11-year-old son with nighttime seizures

[Annie16]

My 11-year-old son has been waking up at night. He will rock back and forth, drool (a lot), tap the side of the bed, and have his eyes wide open. I talk to him but  I don't think he's aware of what is going on. He then dropps right back to a deep, normal sleep. He has an EEG and a CT scan tomorrow, and I'm terribly worried. Has anyone else experienced this with their children? What was the diagnosis? My concern is that if he doesn't have an episode while he's hooked up to the machines, what will they do next? (He does not have them every night.)

Thank you so much for any input.

[Annie16]

We met w/the neurologist. He did say there was an area of abnormal activity on the EEG, although my son hadn't actually had an episode during it. The CT scan was clear. He does want to do an MRI and a video EEG. I'm supposed to keep track of the episodes at night for this week, and if he's still having them every night, we'll do the video EEG. I hope this provides some answers. He did also say that it might be a "sleep phenomenon" and may not be seizures after all. I am now very confused. Anyone else heard of this?

[Annie16]

He meets w/a pediatric neurologist today. I am hoping he has some answers. I will ask about the video EEG then, if he doesn't bring it up. (I slept on my son's floor the past 3 nights; he is actually having these "episodes" every night. He has a bunkbed, which also has me worried that he will move around so much that he will fall out!)

Thank you for the time you have taking w/your input; this is all terribly frightening.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hi.

The earlier episodes look like absence seizures! The EEG may be normal between two seizures. This is called as the inter-ictal EEG. That's why it becomes essential to have a video EEG done. A normal EEG "during" an episode will rule out seizure.

Can you arrange for a video EEG now?

Regards

[Annie16]

No, they just did a regular EEG, and he of course did not have an episode. That was my big concern. He only gets them in his sleep. There were no birth-related injuries. He shows no signs of anything out of the ordinary during the day; he is very bright, in the gifted program at his school, very active, etc. He had an EEG 5 years ago b/c he would stare off at nothing and then suddenly seem to come out of it; I would know he was coming out of it b/c I would feel him grab my arm or hand, as if he was going to fall. They said that EEG was normal, and that it was a "tic" that he would outgrow. He seemed to but now he is waking at night with this.

Thanks so much for your time and comments. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Are they going to do a video EEG? It is better than a routine EEG. The episode can be recorded on video and can be correlated with any simultaneous brain wave changes.

His symptoms hint towards temporal lobe epilepsy. But there could be other lobes involved as well. And even if his eyes are open, he does not seem to be alert or awake. This can be termed complex partial epilepsy.

Does he get the seizures only in sleep? Did he have any birth related injuries of problems?

Regards