The Causes of Epilepsy
The MRI scan on the next page shows a small abnormal area in the brain. This abnormal area is causing the patient to suffer from epilepsy. There are various types of epilepsy, as well as several possible causes.
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The Causes of Epilepsy
The MRI scan on the next page shows a small abnormal area in the brain. This abnormal area is causing the patient to suffer from epilepsy. There are various types of epilepsy, as well as several possible causes. Epileptic seizures come with an altered state of consciousness and often involve muscle spasms as well. Sometimes an MRI scan will show damage in the brain which will explain the patient’s epilepsy or epileptic seizure. This damage may have been present when the patient was born, or alternatively, it may have developed at a later age. Sometimes, an MRI scan will not be able to show the cause of the epilepsy. Electroencephalography (EEG) may record the abnormal activity of the brain during an epileptic seizure. EEG, in combination with the doctor’s knowledge of different types of epileptic seizures, may provide a clue of the location in the brain where the epileptic seizure begins. Young patients sometimes suffer a congenital disorder in the outer layer of the brain, which is also called the ‘cortex’ or ‘grey matter’. Congenital disorders in this outer layer of the brain may cause epilepsy in some patients. If medication is not sufficiently effective, doctors may decide to perform surgery to remove a smaller or larger area of the brain, the objective being the removal of the area of the brain which is causing the seizures.
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2017 J. Hendrikse, This is Our Brain, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-4148-8_23
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Another area of the brain which may cause epilepsy is hidden deep inside the central brain. This small area is also important to memory and may be smaller in patients suffering from impaired memory and dementia. Since this area of the brain is shaped like a seahorse, it is also known as the ‘hippocampus’ (Latin for ‘seahorse’). In some of the frequently young patients with epilepsy, this seahorse looks abnormal and overly white on MRI scans. In addition, it often looks smaller than one might expect. Sometimes epilepsy is caused by a brain tumour. Especially, in elderly patients with first time epileptic seizures, the potential underlying cause is a brain tumour or other causes of acquired brain damage. Brain tumours may be growing from the brain tissue itself or be the results of a metastasis (spread) of a tumour situated elsewhere in the body. Both young and old patients who have experienced an epileptic seizure nearly always undergo an MRI scan to determine the cause of the seizure. The MRI scan on the next page shows a relatively white area of the brain tissue (circle). This relatively white area is a congenital disorder which is causing this patient to suffer epileptic seizures.
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The Causes of Epilepsy
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