10 year old with lesions on the brain

[worriedgranny]

My 10 year old grandaughter had her first grand mal seizure a month ago.  She had an MRI which showed her brain was "peppered" with plaque lesions in the white matter.  She was put on anti seizure medication.  She was referred to a neurology specialist at childrens hospital for more tests.  Two weeks later she had another grand mal seizure which occurred even with medication.  Her dosage was trippled.  A second MRI done 2 weeks after the first showed the lesions have grown.  She has had a spinal tap and numerous blood tests.  Her personality at school has changed, her teacher says she is disengaged.  Her balance is beginning to be affected.  She is falling.  She failed a hearing test but she hears fine.  It's something in her brain that is not allowing her to respond normally.  Her blood tests have all come back normal.  What in the world could it be?

[saynono]

I wonder if the disengaged problem is from the meds.  I take seizure control drugs (for pain from nerve damage) and they have made me like that.  They also make me dizzy, even years after taking them, but not to the extend that I loose balance.  However, has she had time to get adjusted to the tripling of the dosage?.  I hope they ramped her up and didn't just increase it.  If they didnt ramp and/or its been less than 2-3 weeks, I would be even more suspicious of possible drug side effects for atleast some of the issues..

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine you I can not offer you the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that you need, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about your health concern.

In white matter lesions there is pathology associated with the brain white matter, either exclusively or in combination with grey matter changes. It occurs due to metabolism errors, exogenous toxins released by virus, autoimmune disease, leukodystrophy, demyelination, and radiation effects. Seizures, spasticity, muscle weakness, paralysis, hyper-reflexia and movement disorder may be the clinical features associated with this that needs to be evaluated thoroughly. However, it is sad to say that there is no permanent cure but conservative treatment & physiotherapy exercises that would help you to regain your normal function and stopping the further progression of the disease. Please consult a neurologist in this regards. Hope this helps.