Epilepsy

Seizure signs and symptoms may include:

• Temporary confusion
• A staring spell
• Stiff muscles
• Involuntary jerking movements of the arms and/or legs
• Impaired awareness or loss of consciousness
• Psychological symptoms such as anxiety or déjà vu

Seizures may lead to circumstances that are dangerous to yourself or others, including:

• Falling
• Drowning
• Car accidents
• Pregnancy complications
• Emotional health issues

Other uncommon but life-threatening complications include:

• Status epilepticus
• Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)

Pediatric Epilepsy

If your child is living with epilepsy, you may be worried about how it will impact their progress in school, what will trigger the next seizure, the medical complications of having epilepsy, and how epilepsy may affect your child’s development. For children with epilepsy, timely and accurate diagnosis and effective treatment can be life-changing.

While many children with epilepsy will thrive despite their diagnosis, for some children epilepsy can significantly impair their medical health, academic performance and psychological and social development. The NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Pediatric Epilepsy Program offers a multidisciplinary team of specialists that bring innovative and comprehensive care to children with epilepsy through the age of 21. The goal of this team is to provide a prompt and accurate evaluation of children with epilepsy and devise an effective treatment plan that addresses the problems early. Regardless of whether a child has been newly diagnosed or has a history of hard-to-manage epilepsy, comprehensive epilepsy care that provides seizure freedom has been shown to change a child’s outcome.