​Symptomatic Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder (that is, a disorder related to the brain) that causes recurrent seizures. Symptomatic epilepsy is a type of epileptic disorder and is a symptom of an underlying problem, such as:

• Head injury or trauma: This may be caused at birth or later during life. Older teenagers and young adults are more likely to develop epilepsy as a result of injury, since they are more active and more likely to be injured than younger children.

• Lack of oxygen to the brain: If this occurs before, during, or shortly after birth, it can damage the brain and result in neonatal seizures (seizures in the first month of life). This may be due to labour complications. Lack of oxygen from an accident, drowning, or heart attack, can also result in seizures in older children and adults.

• Infection: Many different infections can result in seizures either at the time of infection or afterward, including meningitis, encephalitis, sepsis and parasitic infections.

• Brain tumour: Brain tumours can cause epilepsy in children and young adults, but it is rarer.

• Cerebrovascular problem: This means that there is a problem with the blood vessels in the brain, or stroke related seizures.

• Congenital malformation: This means that there was a problem with the baby’s brain development before birth.

• Neurocutaneous syndromes: These are congenital disorders (that is, occurring before birth) that cause abnormal lesions to grow in the brain, spinal cord, or nerves, leading to epilepsy.

• Metabolic disorder: Metabolic disorders are problems with producing, absorbing, breaking down, or storing specific substances in the body, including sugars, fats, proteins, vitamins, or other substances. They usually happen when a child lacks a specific enzyme, often because of a genetic mutation.