The child is twitching, rolling his eyes and foaming at the mouth

Convulsions are a relatively serious disease, especially if a child has symptoms of convulsions, parents will be very panicked and worried. Many children will roll their eyes and foam at the mouth when they have convulsions, which is generally a manifestation of childhood epilepsy. Childhood epilepsy has a huge impact on children. If not treated in time, it may even hinder their future growth. So, what should we do if our child has convulsions, rolls his eyes and foams at the mouth?

Childhood epilepsy is a common neurological syndrome in children (0-18 years old) with complex causes, recurrent, paroxysmal, temporary brain dysfunction. The causes are divided into primary and secondary. The causes of childhood epilepsy are mostly perinatal ischemia and hypoxia, cortical dysplasia, low-grade gliomas, encephalitis, trauma, etc.

From the neonatal period to adolescence, the structure and function of the nervous system are in a process of rapid development and shaping. Therefore, epilepsy in different age groups is different from that in adults in many aspects, from etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations to prognosis. The causes of epilepsy in children are diverse and the clinical manifestations vary. We should do our best to diagnose the cause and choose appropriate treatment. Especially for children under 6 years old, which is a critical period for brain development, it is recommended to actively control epileptic seizures to facilitate the growth and development of children.

Epidemiology of childhood epilepsy. Foreign epidemiological studies have reported that the incidence of epilepsy is 118/100,000 in children under 1 year old, 48/100,000 in children aged 1 to 5 years, 43/100,000 in children aged 5 to 10 years, and 21/100,000 in children aged 10 to 15 years. The prevalence of active epilepsy in the population is 0.5% to 0.7%, of which half are

Causes

Idiopathic childhood epilepsy accounts for 20% of the total number of epilepsy patients. The cause of the disease has not been found and most of them are related to genetics. Therefore, it is also called cryptogenic epilepsy or hereditary epilepsy.

Secondary childhood epilepsy refers to abnormal brain structure or function caused by some unexpected reasons during the growth and development of children, and epileptic seizures caused by abnormal discharge of neural network. The main causes are as follows:

1. Perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage

The main causes are birth trauma, asphyxia, intracranial hemorrhage, and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, among which hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy is the most common cause of epilepsy.

2. Congenital brain malformation

Such as lissencephaly, pachygyria, polymicrogyria, gray matter heterotopia, brain perforation, congenital hydrocephalus, corpus callosum dysgenesis, arachnoid cyst, and megalencephaly.

3. Neurocutaneous syndrome

The most common ones are tuberous sclerosis and facial angiomatosis.

4. Genetic metabolic diseases

Such as phenylketonuria, hyperammonemia, cerebral lipidosis, and vitamin B6 dependence.

5. Intracranial infection

Such as bacterial meningitis, viral encephalitis, brain abscess, fungal meningitis, brain parasitic diseases, post-vaccination encephalitis, etc.

6. Nutritional metabolic disorders and endocrine diseases

Common symptoms include hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, and hypothyroidism.

7. Cerebrovascular disease

Such as cerebral vascular malformations and cerebral vasculitis.

8. Trauma

Intracranial hemorrhage, skull fracture, cerebral contusion, etc. caused by trauma.

9. Brain Tumors

Tumors located in the parietal, frontal, and temporal lobes, such as gliomas and astrocytomas, often cause epilepsy.

10 Brain degeneration

Macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

11. Toxic encephalopathy

Drug poisoning; food poisoning, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, organophosphorus poisoning, heavy metal poisoning (mercury, lead, arsenic), etc.