Petit Mal Seizure

After a stressful week, several visits to doctors office including spending Monday in the ER, Claira has been diagnosed with a condition called, Petit Mal seizure — also known as an Absence seizure. A Petit Mal seizure is caused by an abnormal electrical discharge in the brain. They may cause the child to stare off into space and you can not get their attention, smack their lips, flutter eyelids, chew, or do hand movements. Claira has had 7 since Sunday and the first was the worst her eyes rolled back and her lids began to flutter. She was unresponsive to my voice or my hands. Since she has also experienced the spacing out type. They are very typical in that they only last a few seconds, 10-15, and she has full recovery almost instantaneously. Afterward she is not confused and has no memory of the seizure, in fact she usually just resumes what she was doing. Chances are Claira has been experiencing these for a while. In most cases they can occur for weeks or months before an adult notices, this is because they are so brief. In fact Andy said he saw her do one when she was about 8 months old but since it never happened again he thought nothing of it.

Many can expect to outgrow the disorder. Children who are young, like Claria, when the seizures first started, who have no other neurological problems, like Claira, and who have seizures well controlled by medications are most likely to outgrow their seizures.

Like in Claria’s case there is usually no underlying cause. Some children simply seem to have a genetic predisposition to them. The most recent episodes and the previous one when she was 8 months old just so happen to be the only two times she has been sick enough to go on antibiotics. So maybe hers only presents itself when her body is weak, really it is just too early to tell. We will chart her episodes and see what the pattern tells us.

It is important to know that compared with other types of epileptic seizures, the petit mal variety is very mild. BUT that doesn’t mean they can’t be dangerous. Children with a history of any type of seizure MUST be supervised carefully while swimming or bathing, because of the danger of drowning. So please help us keep an extra close eye on her.