Epileptic seizure semiology in infants and children

• Published in: Seizure (London, England) Vol. 77; pp. 3 - 6
• Main Authors: Park, Jun T., Fernandez-Baca Vaca, Guadalupe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Child; Child, Preschool; Epilepsies, Partial - physiopathology; Epilepsy, Generalized - physiopathology; Epileptogenic zone; Focal epilepsy; Functional Laterality - physiology; Generalized epilepsy; Humans; Infant; Lateralizing signs; Localizing signs; Pediatric epilepsy; Pediatric epilepsy surgery; Seizure semiology; Seizures - physiopathology; Pediatric epilepsy surgery; Focal epilepsy; Generalized epilepsy; Localizing signs; Lateralizing signs; Seizure semiology; Pediatric epilepsy; Epileptogenic zone
• ISSN: 1059-1311; 1532-2688
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2019.10.015

•Semiological seizure classification allows different levels of precision.•Seizure semiology in children become more complex with age.•Clonic seizure and tonic seizure lateralize to contralateral side as in adults.•Sustained eye version alone is an unreliable lateralizing sign in infants.•Generalized motor symptoms can be associated with focal epilepsy. Epileptic seizure semiology adds important information to the formulation of the hypothesis of the epileptogenic zone. Seizure semiology in infants and children are simple and elementary, becoming more complex with maturation of brain. Also in this age group, seizure semiology may be generalized in a setting of a focal lesion or may show focal signs with misleading localization values. We review seizure semiology of patients aged one month to ten years with respect to lateralization and localization of the epileptogenic zone.