Emergency: requires immediate attention
Simple partial seizure
Alerts and Notices
Synopsis
Etiology is variable and includes mesial temporal sclerosis, congenital anomalies, stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, tumor, infection, post-surgical changes, trauma, etc. While uncommon in infancy, this type of seizure can start in childhood or adulthood with highest incidence in older adults (older than 60 years). Prognosis is variable and may depend on the underlying etiology.
Codes
ICD10CM:G40.109 – Localization-related (focal) (partial) symptomatic epilepsy and epileptic syndromes with simple partial seizures, not intractable, without status epilepticus
SNOMEDCT:
117891000119100 – Simple partial seizure
Look For
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Diagnostic Pearls
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Differential Diagnosis & Pitfalls
- Transient ischemic attack – rarely presents as repetitive movement but may have similar presentation if sensory only
- Migraine and migraine variants, migraine aura
- Movement disorders – dystonia, tremor, myoclonus, hemifacial spasm
- Trigeminal neuralgia – usually quite brief and painful, also triggered by a stimulus
- Cardiac disorders (eg, arrhythmias)
- Gastrointestinal disorders (eg, gastroesophageal reflux disease)
- Panic attack – tends to ramp up over minutes
- Psychosis
- Psychogenic nonepileptic events (see somatic symptom and related disorders)
Best Tests
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Management Pearls
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Therapy
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References
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Last Reviewed:05/31/2017
Last Updated:02/03/2021
Last Updated:02/03/2021