Absence seizures (also known as “petit mal”)
• Typical
- Start and end suddenly
- Impaired consciousness, the main manisfestation is staring off the space
- Automatic behavior is rare (blinking is the most common)
- Brief, last few seconds (usually less than 20 seconds)
- After the seizure, the patient is immediately back to baseline
- Can be brought on by hyperventilation and sometimes by photic stimulation (blinking lights)
- Age: mainly in children but could happen in adults
- Could go unrecognized and is commonly mistaken as attention deficit disorder
- EEG: typical 3 Hz (cycle per second spike-wave discharge)
- Genetics: runs in families
- Seen in patients with generalized epilepsy