EPILEPSY AND ITS SPECIAL FORMS/SPECIAL PATTERNS AND CAUSES: CHRONIC INFECTIONS
Acute bacterial and viral infections of the brain (meningitis and encephalitis), as we know, may cause acute seizures and may occasionally damage the brain and result in epilepsy. Other infections that occur before birth or, rarely, after birth may also damage the brain and lead to epilepsy. The most common infection of the brain world-wide is cysticercosis; in some countries this may be the most common cause of epilepsy, but in the United States it is a rare cause of seizures. A doctor will suspect this diagnosis when single or multiple areas of typicalcalcification, the result of cysts within the brain, are spotted on the CT. Surgical removal of these cysts may cure the child’s epilepsy.Another brain infection is toxoplasmosis, an infection spread by cats. If a pregnant woman acquires this infection it may be transmitted to her baby and cause scarring in the brain. Infection, often undetectable in the newborn, is first manifested, possibly, as mental retardation or as seizures. A CT scan can detect scars within the brain and aid diagnosis. Also, small scars on the retina in back of the eye may be noted by your physician and suggest a diagnosis. In addition, blood tests can confirm what the observations suggest. Suspected toxoplasmosis is often treated in an attempt to prevent further damage. The treatment of seizures in affected children is similar to those used in the treatment of other forms of epilepsy.*101\208\8*
