Convulsive syndrome is an involuntary contraction of muscle fibers. This diagnosis is received by many children up to a year, during the period of the most active development of the brain. Pathology horrifies parents - because of ignorance, many confuse it with epilepsy. You can read more about what convulsive syndrome in children is, how to diagnose and treat it, in this article.
More on the disorder
Convulsive syndrome is a body reaction in response to internal and external stimuli through muscle contractions that a person cannot control. The disorder is quite common and occurs in about 3% of children. Moreover, it is rarely considered as a separate disease: most often, convulsions are the result of any neurological problems in the central nervous system of the child. How is convulsive syndrome expressed? Muscle contractions can be generalized, clonic or tonic. Tonic cramps represent tension throughout the body. The arms are most often bent at the elbows, and the head is thrown back. Tonic cramps look like rhythmic contractions of successive muscles of the body and limbs. They can be not general, but local, and capture only a certain part of the body.
Many parents whose children have been diagnosed with “convulsive syndrome” care about whether it is similar to epilepsy? Described seizures by origin can be epileptic and non-epileptic. In newborns, secondary convulsions are most often observed, which are not so dangerous for the brain and are mainly the result of hypoxia. Usually the diagnosis of epilepsy is given to those children who have reached the age of three. Many babies outgrow convulsive syndrome, so this diagnosis is usually made to newborns and children up to a year.
What do parents need to know about pathology?
Children are much more likely than adults to be affected by this disease. Therefore, each parent needs to know as much as possible about seizures in order to recognize them in time and consult a doctor. Convulsive syndrome occurs in 17-20 out of 1000 children, and in most of them it disappears during the first three years of life. Therefore, having learned about the diagnosis, one should not panic, it is better to trust the attending physician and strictly follow all the recommendations.
Causes of the disease
The causes of convulsive syndrome in children may vary depending on the age of the child. In newborns, this disease is most often the result of oxygen starvation of the brain, transferred during intrauterine development or developed during childbirth. Other causes of seizures include the following:
- Infectious diseases accompanied by brain damage (meningitis, encephalitis).
- The intrauterine infections carried by the child that affected the development of the central nervous system (toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, rubella, etc.).
- Damage to the nervous system after vaccination.
- Poisoning with drugs or gases.
- Neoplasms, tumors that affect the blood supply to the brain.
- Congenital genetic metabolic disorders.
- Congenital diseases: heart disease, diabetes mellitus, hormonal disorders.
- High fever that leads to brain hypoxia.
The causes of convulsive syndrome in children older than 3 years are traumatic brain injuries: falls, strokes, which lead to central nervous system depression.
The mechanism of seizures
It is often difficult for children to establish the cause of seizures. The mechanism for the occurrence of such a reaction is complex and depends on many reasons. Among the starting factors, it is possible to distinguish the formation of a focus of excitation in the brain, which complicates the inhibition processes. Immature neural connections of the child do not allow you to adjust the process yourself, and this often leads to convulsions. Moreover, in neurons - foci of excitation, electric charges are formed that accumulate in the cerebral cortex, and from there are already transmitted to the muscles.
Signs of convulsive syndrome in children
Manifestations of this disease are visible to the naked eye even to an inexperienced specialist. Symptoms of convulsive syndrome in children may vary depending on the severity of seizures. Here's what a regular fit looks like:
- The child freezes with his whole body. At the same time, the eyes can remain motionless, roll back or start to rotate from side to side.
- Breathing becomes difficult.
- The baby's arms are usually bent at the elbows, and the muscles of the body are tense.
- The child’s consciousness is “turned off”: it does not respond to your voice, does not follow the objects.
- Fingers are tightly clenched and do not relax.
This is usually the appearance of generalized tonic convulsions. With tonic-clonic seizures, the picture may be completely different:
- The attack is preceded by general anxiety and crying of the child.
- A cramp begins with the muscles of the face, then spreads to the upper and lower parts of the body.
- The body does not strain everything; one can observe rhythmic contractions of individual muscle groups.
- During the attack, the child turns pale, “marbling” and a vascular network on the skin may appear.
- Tachycardia and hoarse breathing are often a companion to a tonic seizure.
Baby "fading" in the newborn age often mislead parents. At first, it may seem that the child is listening to something or falling asleep. But a convulsive seizure is manifested by the general tension of the body, "glass" eyes and unnatural movements. An attentive mother understands the first time that something strange is happening to her child. It should be noted that the sooner treatment of convulsive syndrome begins, the less damage this brain will bring to this diagnosis. How is this disease diagnosed in modern medicine?
Diagnostics
In medicine, the described pathology is considered only a consequence of more serious diseases. Therefore, they initially try to find out the cause, and only then, if it has not yet been established, they examine the patient for possible factors in the development of seizures. Diagnosis of convulsive syndrome in children is possible using laboratory or instrumental methods:
- Doppler examination of the vessels of the brain allows you to show the presence or absence of problems in the blood supply.
- The electroencephalogram (EEG) allows you to effectively identify convulsive syndrome and track the dynamics of the disease. EEG shows electrical impulses of the cerebral cortex, which are displayed using a special diagram.
- An x-ray of the skull can reveal atypical changes in the structure of the skull, which may indicate the cause of the seizures that occur.
- MRI and CT scans of the brain help identify structural changes that may also be the result of a lesion due to some kind of illness or injury.
In addition to the main examination methods, doctors prescribe additional:
- Analyzes.
- Neurosonography
- Angiography.
- Diaphanoscopy.
- Lumbar puncture.
All these procedures together help to see the big picture and, in most cases, eliminate the cause of the convulsive syndrome.
Emergency measures
Emergency care for convulsive syndrome in children is to control breathing and monitor the child. The parent needs to turn the baby's head to the side so that he does not choke with saliva or vomiting. It is also necessary to ensure the fullest possible flow of oxygen: unfasten the upper buttons of clothing and open the window. With severe convulsions that threaten the health of the patient, doctors prescribe anticonvulsants.
If the cause of the seizure is clear, pathogenetic therapy should be performed:
- Introduce a glucose solution if there are signs of hypoglycemia (sweat, pallor).
- Give calcium gluconate if convulsions begin due to hypocalcemia.
- A solution of magnesium sulfate is administered in case of hypomagnesemia.
Basically, in conditions of emergency care, a full-fledged diagnosis is impossible. Therefore, often emergency doctors administer several drugs at once in order to avoid complications and remove the child from the status:
- Diazepam
- Magnesium sulfate.
- Hexenal.
- Gamma hydroxybutyric acid.
Anticonvulsants can be administered rectally in the form of a suppository ("Diazepam") or intramuscularly ("Relanium").
Treatment
Drug therapy in the treatment of convulsive syndrome in children consists of several stages:
- The cause of seizures is eliminated: infection, cerebral edema, trauma, etc.
- A medication is prescribed that helps reduce the intensity of the attacks.
There are cases when, due to genetic and congenital anomalies, it is completely impossible to cure the pathology. Then sedatives are prescribed that help reduce the stimulation of the cortex and reduce the number of seizures. Drugs are selected individually by a special doctor-epileptologist. With febrile seizures, it is enough to bring down the temperature of the baby. Hyperthermic and convulsive syndromes in children often follow each other. Therefore, for those children who have already had seizures, doctors recommend starting to bring down the temperature by 38 degrees.
Disease prognosis
Febrile cramps usually stop with the growth of the child. The risk that they will develop into epileptic is only 2-10%. Therefore, do not be scared and immediately run to the doctor - just carefully monitor the body temperature of the child. If the cause of the seizures was not found or convulsions continue even after the cause has been eliminated, then there is a chance that the disease will develop into epilepsy. Nevertheless, many people live with this diagnosis, study, work, raise children. With proper treatment, the diagnosis of epilepsy is not fatal.
Prevention
An important role in the treatment of convulsive syndrome in children is played by preventive methods that can significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of seizures. If your child suffers from such conditions, it is necessary to provide him peace. Children usually react very sharply to light and sound stimuli: loud sounds, flashes, color glare. With convulsive syndrome in children, the recommendations sound very clear: eliminate the TV, tablet and any toys with a bright blinking light.
To prevent the development of this dangerous pathology, timely examinations by specialists, who usually identify serious diseases in the early stages, can. Often for the treatment of convulsive syndrome, only a timely examination and the implementation of the recommendations of doctors is enough.
Expert Advice
Helping children with a convulsive syndrome is examination and prevention, not self-medication. Even with the best of intentions, parents can only make things worse if they don't go to the doctor on time. What examinations are usually prescribed by professionals?
- Electrocardiography
- Electroencephalography.
- X-ray of the skull.
- Computed tomography.
- Inspection of a neurologist and optometrist.
- General history of a pediatrician or neonatologist.
The more timely the cause of the disease is discovered, the more likely the doctors will eliminate it. Therefore, all doctors recommend that parents consult a specialist immediately if a child develops any symptoms of cramps - fading, jerking, twitching of muscles.
Summary
Seizures in young children are quite common and look like involuntary muscle contraction in response to an external or internal stimulus. The condition can be caused by various diseases that only a doctor can diagnose. But to provide emergency care for children with convulsive syndrome and notice the first symptoms of the disease, each parent should be able to. Attacks often pass as the child grows, but before the diagnosis is removed from the child, it is better to protect him from irritating external factors and strictly follow the recommendations of doctors.