seizures and infant development

[madorley]

My now 2 year old (exposed to cocaine in utero) has had staring spells from the get-go, about 4 seconds, really gone. 4 EEG's done at Albany Medical Center have been inconclusive, including two 24 hour readings. On 1 she had "delta waves slow for age"--at about 3 months. By 12 mos the EEG's were traumatic, inconclusive, and we were prevented by the department of social services to conduct an MRI (she was then our foster baby).

We left the issue alone until now. We have moves to Northern VA. She seems to still have these random staring events (maybe a bit longer). By the time I realise they are happening, i touch her face or try to make her blink and she responds after one second.

If these were truly seizures, 4 or 5 a day for 4 or 5 seconds, would they not affect her development? She crawled at 10 months, walked at 14, talked at 9 months and is now verbally off the charts. Do daily seizures slow or disrupt development?


Thanks for any opinions or info!
Lisa

[Bernard]

Hi Lisa, welcome to the forum.

There is no causal correlation that I'm aware of between seizures and developmental delays (although many root neurological problems can cause both seizures and developmental delays). Many people with epilepsy have above average intellect and cognitive function.

Sounds like she is having absence seizures. My wife completely eliminated her multiple, daily absence seizures with EEG neurofeedback, although I think 2 years old might be too young to go that route.

[madorley]

I apologize! I certainly didn't mean to imply that seizures impair the cognitive function of all who have them. I was hoping to rule out seizures for my daughter, who has no developmental delays. I'm also wondering if the staring could be related to another neurological snafu, but is not seizure activity. I guess I'm desperately trying to avoid another EEG, especially as they have not been in anyway helpful, and have actually been painful for her.
Thanks for the information and the kind welcome.

Lisa

[angel]

I found this site that might be helpful

http://www.nysccc.org/cocaine.html



http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...pagewanted=all


The children are often irritable, hypersensitive to stimulation, prone to staring spells and tremors and unable to follow even the simplest directions. They become agitated in an unstructured environment and often have language and movement problems. Goals Being Challenged

[madorley]

Angel, that is so interesting! I have read EVERYTHING on cocaine exposure (with a churning stomach) but have never seen the comment about staring spells. She had some of the classic cocaine exposed infant
presentations, but has since overcome nearly all of them except for these staring spells and minor sensory integration irritations. More may become obvious when she goes to school in a few years. Do you think an MRI can help diagnose seizures if EEG's are inconclusive? Are 4 EEG's in her first year enough to say, "OKAY, we don't need another EEG unless something obvious happens?"

Thanks for your concern and research!

Lisa

[epileric]

Are 4 EEG's in her first year enough to say, "OKAY, we don't need another EEG unless something obvious happens?"

Thanks for your concern and research!

Lisa

My understanding is that the brain is not fully developed until it's 4th year (don't quote me on that though) though it does keep growing.

You may find discrepancies now but they may change as the brain grows. You may also see changes in what shows up on an EEG or MRI.

Here's hoping for the best. At least you've got support here.

[T's Dad]

Sounds like there is still some uncertainty as to whether these are absence seizures or not. If they are, here are my 2 cents about your questions:

Our 15-month old daughter has (lots of) absence seizures (among others), but so far developing normally, and is a little ahead verbally, but we've got the same concern that you express about development. We fear that it will affect her if we can't get them under control.

One neurologist on our team once explained to us that seizure activity in babies is often associated with developmental delays, but that the linkage was genetic, and that if she has come this far with lots of seizure activity and no delays, there is a very good chance that it won't happen. In other words, if the seizures haven't delayed her yet, there is strong reason to hope that they won't in the future.

(Of course, I think that all of that mostly holds only if you are just talking about seizures and development. We are also (unfortunately) exploring some underlying causes for the seizures that might still result in delays.)

Regarding the EEGs, we've been told the same as epileric mentioned earlier. Our neurologist said that our daughter's EEGs are "evolving" as her brain grows and develops. So we've got another big one scheduled for a couple of months from now to see if there is further evolution that might give them some more clues about what is going on.

T's Dad