Seizures and Status Epilepticus

Broadly, a seizure is a series of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Seizures can be provoked by illness or injury to the brain or can be considered unprovoked. Approximately 1% of children will have at least one unprovoked seizure by age 14 with highest incidence within the first few months of life. The most important aspect of evaluating seizures is obtaining a detailed history of the nature and sequence of events surrounding the seizure. A routine electroencephalogram (EEG) is part of the standard workup for new-onset afebrile seizures and long-term EEG monitoring may be incorporated for events of clinical uncertainty or suspected subclinical status epilepticus. Febrile seizures are also discussed in this chapter.