Seizures With Headache Differential Diagnosis Table

Seizures With Headache Differential Diagnosis Table:

Seizures are defined as uncontrolled and abnormal electrical activity in the brain that leads to changes in body movement and affects the consciousness of the patient. There are many types of seizures. It can be partial, affecting only a part of the body, or generalized, affecting the whole body.
Seizure usually indicates the presence of a neurological disorder, and it can range from a small transient seizure to an uncontrolled one that requires immediate medical intervention.
Some seizures are temporary and usually provoked by small events. Unprovoked seizures are more dangerous since they happen due to unknown causes.
Seizures can be controlled by a wide range of antiepileptic and sedative medications to treat the symptom itself until treatment of the underlying condition causing it.

How To Recognize Which Diseases Are Causing The Seizures

How to Recognize if Migraine is Causing Seizures

Migraine is a throbbing pain in the brain. Usually, people describe it as a headache, but it occurs with other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and mood swings, and it usually lasts from a few hours to days. The exact cause of migraine is not known, but it may be related to genetic and environmental factors.
Migraine doesn’t have a cure, but medications may help relieve the pain and improve the patient’s quality of life.
In some cases, migraine can trigger seizures. Although this has a low probability of happening, it can occur, especially in migraine with aura. Recognizing this type of seizure will have to depend on the exclusion of other causes and linking seizures with the time of aura occurrence.

How to Recognize if Stroke is Causing Seizures

Stroke is when blood supply to the brain is blocked. This leads to death in brain tissue due to decreased oxygen supply. Another type of stroke is hemorrhagic, which is when blood vessels in the brain leak, causing edema and bleeding inside the brain. Stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment since any delay leads to permanent death in brain tissue.
Seizures are related more with hemorrhagic stroke, but it usually depends more on the vessels and the place in the brain that is affected. Strokes that affect the cerebral cortex are more associated with seizures since it is the part of the brain that is responsible for movement. Once the stroke is treated, seizures will be resolved as well.

How to Recognize if Epilepsy is Causing Seizures

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that results in unprovoked seizures. It’s the most common cause of seizures. Epilepsy itself isn’t curable, but currently available medications can help in control seizures and help the patient live a seizure-free life. Epilepsy has many types, and one type can be seizure-free; it’s when the patient loses consciousness without any motor movement abnormality.
Diagnosis of epilepsy is simply made by EEG, which will show abnormal activity and sudden bursts of electrical activity that happen during seizures.

How to Recognize if Meningitis is Causing Seizures

Meningitis is an infection and inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. This infection can be bacterial, viral, or fungal. Meningitis can be a life-threatening condition, but it can be treated without any complications with the right antimicrobial drug.
In severe infection, meningitis can lead to seizures due to increased inflammation in the brain. But it usually resolves with the right anti-seizure medication and good progression of meningitis.
Diagnosis mainly depends on CSF analysis, which will usually show increased protein and WBCs, and depending on the type of infection, glucose, lymphocytes, and neutrophils will be affected too.

How to Recognize if Encephalitis is Causing Seizures

Encephalitis is an inflammation in a part of the brain. It has many causes and can either be from an infectious cause or non-infectious. Encephalitis can be very threatening, especially if the underlying cause is not known. Usually, a series of diagnostic tests, including CT brain, MRI, and lumbar puncture, is required to know the exact cause.
If encephalitis leads to increased intracranial pressure due to brain edema or excessive inflammation, this can lead to seizures. Seizures can be resolved when intracranial pressure is decreased, which usually requires an external ventricular drain or shunt to decrease pressure and resolve seizures.

How to Recognize if Brain Tumor is Causing Seizures

Brain tumor is the overgrowth of cells inside the brain, which can either be malignant or benign. According to the type and place of the tumor, the symptoms vary and treatment varies as well. Brain tumor can easily be detected by MRI and CT scan, but knowing the exact type will need surgery to take a biopsy.
Brain tumor can be associated with seizures as well as other unique symptoms such as papilledema. Brain tumor can be asymptomatic in early stages, but once the tumor develops, it is usually associated with seizures.

Important Red Flags in Seizures

Seizures are usually a medical emergency that require immediate treatment to control convulsions. If the underlying cause of seizures is known, a good prognosis is suspected since once treating the underlying condition, the seizures will resolve on their own. But some red flags are present or warning signs that may require patients to be admitted to the hospital, such as:
Ongoing seizures or status epilepticus that lasts for more than 5 minutes, which may eventually lead to intubation of the patient to avoid respiratory failure.
Pregnancy is another severe warning sign. If a pregnant woman has a seizure, it’s referred to as eclampsia, which is a life-threatening condition that can eventually lead to the death of the patient.
Presence of increased intracranial pressure with seizures, which will require a device such as an external ventricular drain to drain excess CSF and alleviate pressure.