Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a chronic condition affecting the brain that causes repeated seizures. It is the fourth most common neurological disorder worldwide.  

Epilepsy affects people in many ways. Seizures are just one aspect of epilepsy that affect daily life. Epilepsy may also result in behavioral, social, and cognitive problems.

The main symptom of epilepsy is repeated or recurrent seizures, which occur due to uncontrolled, abnormal firing of nerve cells in the brain that cause changes to physical and mental function.

Signs and symptoms of epileptic seizures depend on which area of the brain is affected. People with epilepsy may experience:

• Abnormal eye movements
• Changes in sensation (hearing, vision, taste, smell, numbness, tingling)
• Complete loss of muscle tone (drop attacks)
• Drooling or frothing at the mouth
• Lip-smacking, hand-rubbing, chewing motions, finger motions
• Staring spells
• Temporary confusion and difficulty thinking, speaking, or understanding
• Temporary loss of consciousness or awareness
• Uncontrolled muscle movements (twitching, jerking, convulsions)

Some people with repeated seizures may experience strange feelings or sensations before the seizure happens. These warning signs are called auras. For some people, the auras are long enough and reliable enough that they can warn of an impending seizure.

About 50 percent of epilepsy cases have no known cause. The remainder of people with epilepsy have an underlying cause such as: 

Structural abnormalities in the brain: 

• Abnormal blood vessels in the brain such as arteriovenous malformations
• Congenital brain conditions (abnormalities present at birth) 

Injuries to the brain: 

• Brain injuries that happen while a baby develops before birth or during birth
• Infections such as meningitis, encephalitis, or brain abscesses
• Traumatic brain injuries from car accidents, falls, projectiles, or other events
• Strokes 

Other health conditions: 

• Autoimmune disorders in which the immune system attacks brain cells
• Brain tumors
• Degenerative processes that damage or destroy brain tissue, including dementia and Alzheimer's disease
• Metabolic disorders
• Genetic changes 

For some patients, outpatient diagnostic tests are not able to capture the information your doctor needs to fully understand your epilepsy and create a treatment plan. If this happens, we may recommend special inpatient testing at our Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) located at The Pavillion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Here, patients receive extended, multi-day epilepsy monitoring in a safe, comfortable center equipped with the latest monitoring technology and a specially trained staff.