Patient Seizure Disorders: A Case Study

Mrs. Dey reported she had been extremely sick with the anti-seizure medications and her primary care advised her to stop the current medication and go into the hospital. She was hospitalized overnight in observation and Dr. Hardy requested she come into his office the following Monday, September 11, 2017. Due to the unexpected appointment, I had a scheduling conflict and my colleague Laurie Wawrzynaik RN, BSN, MA, attended.

Our brain is susceptible to many diseases that disrupt normal function, like the disease known as Grand Mal Seizures. Normally, electrical charges are produced by ions in the brain(sodium, potassium, or calcium) and they are released on a regular basis. When released, nerve cells are able to effectively communicate with each other. When a seizure occurs it's due to this process being disturbed. The Ions are damaged cause chemical imbalances which leads to misfired nerve signals. Grand Mal seizures are characterized by three stages. These stages include the Pre-Ictal stage, the Ictal stage(where the seizure occurs), and the Postictal stage. In the first stage, a patient is likely to see a hallucination or some sort of warning sign before the

During this quarter Jose did not experience any serious injuries. He experienced a hospitalization with admitting diagnosis of Acute Seizure (prolonged postictal lethargy and AMS) form 1/20/18 to 1/23/18; during his hospital staying, he consulted with the neurologist whom ordered an EEG that showed abnormal electroencephalogram consistent with independent interictal activity in both hemispheres supporting the diagnosis of chronic epilepsy; Trileptal was discontinued, no changes Keppra, Lamictal or Topamax. Other studies/workup included a CT head w/o contrast that showed chronic ethmoid sinusitis, normal chest x-ray, elevated ammonia levels, and low potassium (corrected). Prior his hospitalization Jose consulted with neurology on 11/21/17 who recommended the initiation of Trileptal, CT head if not done within 2017, and indicated that he may need a VNS if not improvement on refractory seizures. His next neurology follow up will be on 2/21/18.

Tony is a single, 50 year old Caucasian male still living with his mother and has one child which is a daughter 6 years old from a previous relationship in the past. He has never been married and currently not able to drive because of his seizure disorder because in the state of North Carolina he has to be seizure free for 1 year and approved by his family physician to legally drive. He relies on public transportation, friends and his mother in getting different places, such as going to the doctor, and visiting with his daughter. He has supervised visit with his daughter every other weekend due to the safety issues concerning his seizure disorder. Tony cannot be left alone because he does have a history of having seizures while no one is around

The patient's family is furious with his decision to go ahead with the risky surgery.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening ailment in which the brain is in a state of persistent seizure. Definitions differ, but conventionally it is well-defined as one constant unremitting seizure lasting longer than 5 minutes, or recurring seizures without recuperating consciousness between seizures for greater than 5 minutes. When recurring seizures happen at a frequency which does not let consciousness to be recouped in the interval between seizures, it is called status epilepticus. Severe and perpetual brain impairment might arise from status epilepticus continuing for more than an hour. The lengthier the duration of status epilepticus, the more challenging it is to control and higher is the rate of morbidity and mortality. It is constantly considered a medical emergency. Etiologically, SE can be shared into 3 groups. SE can represent an exacerbation of a pre-existing seizure complaint, the early manifestation of a seizure disorder, or an insult other than a seizure disorder. In patients with known

Epilepsy and Seizure Disorder: All actions and functions travel to the different parts of the brain much like electrical wiring. The “electricity” moves from one area or wired circuit through another by jumping and traveling from area to area much like electricity Due to abnormal electricity and “jumping” seizures can occur. Epilepsy is where these electoral abnormalities are reoccurring often causing many seizures. The Tonic-Clonic or Grand Mal seizures that CM has is from muscles tightening and relaxing very fast due to the abnormal jumping of electricity in the brain. P. 417

Different seizure medicines tend to yield different types of side effects. Just because a certain effect is common with one medication, however, does not mean that the individual will experience it. Many people have few or no problems with side effect. Some side effects are associated with specific medications and occur fairly frequently. Examples of some idiosyncratic effects are listed here. Of note, these will vary from one drug to another. Common dose dependent side effects are usually related to symptoms of the central nervous system and occur with higher dose amounts. Dilantin is often initial drug of choice. Prescribers have to be careful in switching from generic to trade name as bioavailability may vary and can lead to toxicity).

Seizures occur when abnormal signals from the brain and changes the way the body functions. Many people have seizures but they have different effects on them. Some people have a little shaking of their hands and do not lose consciousness, while others have a lot of shaking and do lose consciousness. While seizures have a range of life changing effects for adults, more needs to be focus on children.

Seizures may arise at any stage of age, but certain periods of life present a higher risk for their emergence. The frequency of seizures in the epileptic population varies widely. Some epileptic experiences only two seizures in a lifetime, and other may suffer 100 of attacks daily. Approximately 25 percent of epileptic experience seizures that are uncontrolled by current forms of

Seizure disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic (2015), affect approximately 1 in 26 people in the United States. Persistent, or chronic, seizures result from a condition called epilepsy, a neurological disorder of the central nervous system. It can affect anyone regardless of age, but is more common during early childhood and after age 60. Given the number of people that seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, affect, it becomes helpful to gain a foundational understanding of the disease, including some of the causes, symptoms, and treatments available.

Seizures or epilepsy are brain disorders where the person has repeated convulsions over a period of time. They’re episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention and behavior. Seizures are considered the most common observed neurological dysfunction in children. They are very sudden intermittent episodes of altered consciousness lasting seconds to minutes and include involuntary tonic (stiffening of muscles) and clonic (altering contraction and relaxation of muscles) movements.

The amplitude of the fluctuations, the frequency spectrum and duration of RMS changes are the main causes of flicker phenomenon.

When I was eight years old I learned what epilepsy was. My family was in the car driving to get dinner, with my dad driving. We were stopped at a stop light, and when it turned green we never moved. My mother looked over at my dad and realized he was having a seizure. At the time I did not know what that was; all I remember is a blur of my sister calling 911, and us going to the hospital. It was one of the scariest moments of my life; I thought my dad was dying. Later that night my mom explained to us what a seizure was, and that he was going to be okay. This was the first time my dad had a seizure, and the doctors did not know why. He was sent home from the emergency room that night with no answers and a shaken up family.

Epilepsy Research Paper People most often associate violent twitching, falling to the floor and drooling with epilepsy. However the described event is only one kind of an epileptic seizure, which is called a tonic-clonic seizure. There are many other kinds of seizures, and each has different sets of signs and symptoms. During generalized seizures the whole brain is affected and the initial symptom is loss of consciousness. This category includes such seizures as absence seizure, myoclonic seizure, and atonic attack.