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Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We studied 94 consecutive patients (age 15 or over) to investigate which aspects of the history and clinical findings help to distinguish seizures from syncope and related conditions. Clonic movements or automatism observed by an eyewitness classified an event as a seizure. The seizure group consisted of 41 patients and the syncope group of 53 patients. The likelihood ratio was used to calculate the predictive power of single findings and logistic regression to analyse combinations of findings. The best discriminatory finding was orientation immediately after the event according to the eyewitness and the age of the patient in the absence of an eyewitness report (P less than 0.001). We found a seizure five times more likely than syncope if the patient was disoriented after the event and three times more likely if the patient was less than 45 years of age. Nausea or sweating before the event were useful to exclude a seizure. Incontinence and trauma were not discriminative findings.
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PMID:Transient loss of consciousness: the value of the history for distinguishing seizure from syncope. 203 Mar 71

Videotape analysis of 163 complex partial seizures in 40 patients showed that the mean duration of the attack was 128 seconds. Automatisms occurred in 159 seizures (97%) and involved more than the face and arms in 132 (80%). Most automatisms were simple, stereotypic, or aimless movements. Postural tone increased in 24 seizures and decreased in 62. Clonic movements of the eyelids occurred in 19 attacks, and clonic movements of the extremities in 4. Only nine patients reported auras. Distinct ictal and postictal phases could be distinguished in 132 seizures (80%); in these, the mean ictal duration was 54 seconds and the mean postictal duration 89 seconds. Videotape analysis provides objective criteria by which complex partial seizures may be differentiated from other seizure types.
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PMID:Complex partial seizures: clinical characteristics and differential diagnosis. 668 45

Administration of pilocarpine causes epilepsy in rats if status epilepticus (SE) is induced at an early age. To determine in detail the electrophysiological patterns of the epileptogenic activity in these animals, 46 Wistar rats, 7-17 days old, were subjected to SE induced by pilocarpine and electro-oscillograms from the cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus and hypothalamus, as well as head, rostrum and vibrissa, eye, ear and forelimb movements, were recorded 120 days later. Six control animals of the same age range did not show any signs of epilepsy. In all the rats subjected to SE, iterative spike-wave complexes (8.1 0.5 Hz in frequency, 18.9 9.1 s in duration) were recorded from the frontal cortex during absence fits. However, similar spike-wave discharges were always found also in the hippocampus and, less frequently, in the amygdala and in thalamic nuclei. Repetitive or single spikes were also detected in these same central structures. Clonic movements and single jerks were recorded from all the rats, either concomitantly with or independently of the spike-wave complexes and spikes. We conclude that rats made epileptic with pilocarpine develop absence seizures also occurring during paradoxical sleep, showing the characteristic spike-wave bursts in neocortical areas and also in the hippocampus. This is in contrast to the well-accepted statement that one of the main characteristics of absence-like fits in the rat is that spike-wave discharges are never recorded from the hippocampal fields.
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PMID:Absence-like seizures in adult rats following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus early in life. 1466 53

Although some previous reports have described convulsive movements in bilateral paramedian thalamic and midbrain infarction, little is known about their nature. A 71-year-old man presented with impaired consciousness and clonic movements of both arms. Each series of movements lasted 10 to 20 s and occurred at 2-to 3-min intervals, which disappeared after intravenous administration of diazepam and phenytoin. Magnetic resonance imaging showed acute bilateral paramedian thalamic and midbrain infarction. A review of the literature revealed that convulsive movements were observed mostly at the onset of infarction. Clonic movements appeared frequently in the limbs, particularly in both arms. Clinical observations and results of animal experiments suggest that these seizures might originate from the mesencephalic reticular formation. Physicians should recognize this condition, because not only seizure control but also early management of ischemic stroke is required.
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PMID:Convulsive movements in bilateral paramedian thalamic and midbrain infarction. 2218 42