MRI with anasthesia/ seizures?

[hootie]

My son went for an MRI on Thursday last week. He was under general anasthetic since he is unable to lie still (he has autism as well as seizures). Since then, I have noticed that he is having more absence seizures. Has anyone ever experienced this?

[epileric]

I've gone for a few MRI's & never had seizure problems afterwards. Of course anaesthetic wasn't used.

[Nakamova]

Do you know what kind of anesthesia was used? Some kinds (like enflurane) are know to provoke seizures, especially if there is a pre-existing seizure disorder.

[hootie]

sevoflurane alone unless the doc used nitrous oxide with it (against my wishes)

[Nakamova]

Here's some notes from an online listing of adverse responses to general anesthesia:

Sevoflurane:

"Seizures have been reported to occur during induction of anesthesia
with high concentrations of sevoflurane in children, including those
without a recognized seizure diathesis.[345] [346] In two healthy
human subjects, EEG burst suppression with 2 MAC sevoflurane was
accompanied by epileptiform discharges that were observed during EEG
monitoring. [347] These discharges were associated with a significant
increase in CBF, thus demonstrating that flow and metabolism coupling
was preserved. In patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, the
administration of 1.5 MAC sevoflurane elicited widespread paroxysmal
interictal EEG activity. Of note was the observation that paroxysmal
activity was not restricted to the ictal focus and that the
administration of sevoflurane was not of any assistance in
localization of the epileptogenic region of the brain. The
development of tonic-clonic movements indicative of seizure activity
has also been reported in otherwise healthy patients on emergence from
sevoflurane anesthesia. These reports highlight sevoflurane's ability, albeit small, to evoke epileptiform activity, and accordingly, the use of sevoflurane in patients with epilepsy should be undertaken with appropriate caution."

[Rae1889]

Well I had my MRI last night and it took I shots of sedatives to stop me from crying so hard and then they gassed me because I kept wanting to leave every 2 minutes.

I've been a little jerky today, but also was out like a light all night. I'll let you know if anything else happens. I'm still trying to shake the sedatives out of my system as I keep wanting to sleep

[Crystal11]

I think if they already know that he has seizures related to Epilepsy that they would probably give him anything that could provoke a seizure- it would not help the imaging process. But maybe its possible- I've never heard of that though.
I had an MRI and they said I could get meds to calm me down since I'm a nervous about being in closed places- and had to stop the test half way through- but they got enough pictures lol..
They don't do general anastethia for adults usually..
But for kiddos they do- I don't think that the meds they gave him would make his seizure worse- but if you want to know for sure- ask your neurologist/doctor and see if its a possibility..

Hope the MRI will help-
Take care,
Crystal

[hootie]

Thanks all for your input. His doc said "no" about it causing more seizure activity, but I don't believe it (especially after reading Naka's post). He is only at 1/2 the recommended dose of Depakote, so I will try to bump him up to 3/4 of what his neurologist wants him to take.

The neurologist did say that the MRI was normal...not surprised since most kids with autism have a normal MRI.

He seems to be doing well with NFB. He will have his 9th treatment tomorrow. I think it might be having a positive effect on him.

[brain]

Never had MRI, MRA, or any of that nature with such the like
with the exception of dye. Pretty much today's equipments
are "friendly" and not like "space capsules" as more and more
Hospitals and Local Radiology Offices are being updated and
upgraded to keep up with the latest technology.

I actually used to fall asleep in those stupid "space capsule"
machines - but my gosh, those things are LOUD!

Are they trying to make us DEAF? When I used to hear, I used
to focus my mind on like this was some sort of a ride ... but
yes, I admit, I've seized during them but they kept it;
Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' ... because they were capturing what they
needed.

[hootie]

GGGGGGRRRRRR!

I am still seeing absence seizures even though I have increased my son's Depakote dose. I really do think the anesthesia is what set him off again. He is sooooooo sensitive to chemicals, foods ,etc that I am not surprised that this would cause a reaction.

Not sure how to chelate out the fluoride from the sevoflurane...probably making sure he gets enough iodine in his diet.

[Nakamova]

I think there's no easy way to chelate fluoride, but it's a good idea to make sure your son is getting balanced electrolytes (like calcium, magnesium, potassium) either through diet or vitamin supplements or things like sports drinks.

[vapour]

I am sorry to hear this. I just looked up sevoflurane and I am familiar with it.

This anesthesia/gas was used all the time in the dental surgeries in UK when I was growing up and I had it a few times... eventually it was banned, and the last time it was administered to me was when I was roughly 17 (I think right before it was banned from dental practices)....

I dont think it has anything to do with seizures though. Infact when i was a child I had febrile seizures and I still had this type of anesthesia when I had my tonsels removed.

It REALLY did make me feel sick to my stomach though.. so I can sympathize there... it is terrible...there is alot of nausea

Maybe he is just feeling under the weather from surgery in general thats causing the seizures ? I think colds or any type of sickness can trigger seizures.