Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jul;16(3):352-6.
doi: 10.4103/0972-2327.116928.

Clinico - diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of computed tomography scan of brain in children with partial seizures

Nehal H Patel  1 , Ashish R Jain, Vivek K Iyer, Anand G Shah, Dipti A Jain, Anjanaben A Shah
Affiliations

Clinico - diagnostic and therapeutic relevance of computed tomography scan of brain in children with partial seizures

Nehal H Patel et al. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2013 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Therapeutic relevance of computed tomography (CT) in children with partial seizures is reported to be remarkably low (1-2%). However, in the developing countries where infections involving the nervous system are common, routine CT scan of brain may help in finding treatable causes of seizures.

Objective: Aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of CT scan of brain in the management of children with partial seizures.

Materials and methods: Children with partial epilepsy, whose predominant seizure type was focal motor seizures, were included in the study. CT scan of brain was done in all children aged between 1 month and 12 years with partial seizures of unknown etiology prospectively. The clinical findings of these children were noted along with the CT findings.

Results: Between August 2001 and July 2002, of the 200 children with seizure disorder 50 children who satisfied the inclusion criteria were included in the study. CT scan of brain was normal in 16 children (32%) and was abnormal in 34 children (68%). Twenty children (~60% of abnormal scan) had potentially correctable lesions: Tuberculoma (n = 13), neurocysticercosis (n = 3), and brain abscess (n = 4). Five children had changes representing static pathology that did not influence patient management. The clinical features correlated with CT findings in 78% children.

Conclusion: Children with partial motor seizures have high probability of having abnormal findings on CT scan of brain, especially, neuro-infections which are potentially treatable. Therefore, CT scan brain should be carried out in all children with partial motor seizures especially, in developing countries.

Keywords: Children; computed tomography scan; partial seizures.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: Nil

References

    1. Nair KP, Jayakumar PN, Taly AB, Arunodya GR, Swamy HS, Shanmugam V. CT in simple partial seizures in children: A clinical and computed tomography study. Acta Neurol Scand. 1997;95:197–200. - PubMed
    1. Gastaut H, Gastaut JL. Computerized transverse axial tomography in epilepsy. Epilepsia. 1976;17:325–36. - PubMed
    1. Gastaut JL. Computerized tomography in epilepsy: A five year experience. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl. 1982;35:223–32. - PubMed
    1. Guberman A. The role of computed cranial tomography (CT) in epilepsy. Can J Neurol Sci. 1983;10:16–21. - PubMed
    1. Dalla Bernardine B, Chiamenti C, Capovilla G, Colamaria V. Benign partial epilepsies in childhood. In: Roger J, Dravet C, Bureau M, Dreifuss FE, Wolf P, editors. Epileptic Syndromes in Infancy, Childhood and Adolescence. John Libbey Eurotext Ltd; 1985. pp. 137–49.