Focal seizure - wikipedia Focal seizure This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2013 ) Focal seizure Classification and external resources Specialty neurology ICD - 10 G40. 0 - G40. 2 ICD - 9 - CM 345.4 - 345.5 MedlinePlus 000697 MeSH D004828 ( edit on Wikidata ) Focal seizures ( also called partial seizures and localized seizures ) are seizures which affect initially only one hemisphere of the brain. The brain is divided into two hemispheres, each consisting of four lobes -- the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital lobes. A focal seizure is generated in and affects just one part of the brain -- a whole hemisphere or part of a lobe. Symptoms will vary according to where the seizure occurs. In the frontal lobe symptoms may include a wave - like sensation in the head ; in the temporal lobe, a feeling of déjà vu ; in the parietal lobe, a numbness or tingling ; and in the occipital lobe, visual disturbance or hallucination. Contents 1 Types 1.1 Focal aware seizure 1.2 Focal impaired awareness seizure 2 Eponym 3 References 4 External links Types As of 2017, focal seizures are split into two main categories, focal onset aware, and focal onset impaired awareness. What was previously termed a secondary generalised seizure is now termed a focal to bilateral seizure. In focal onset aware seizures, a small part of one of the lobes may be affected and the person remains conscious. This can often be a precursor to a larger focal onset impaired awareness seizure. When this is the case, the focal aware seizure is usually called an aura. A focal impaired awareness seizure affects a larger part of the hemisphere and the person may lose consciousness. If a focal seizure spreads from one hemisphere to the other side of the brain, this will give rise to a focal to bilateral seizure. The person will become unconscious and may well have a tonic clonic seizure. When people have multiple focal seizures they generally have a condition known as temporal lobe epilepsy. ( A generalized seizure is one that involves both sides of the brain from the onset ). Focal aware seizure Focal aware seizures are seizures which affect only a small region of the brain, often the temporal lobes or structures found there such as the hippocampi. People who have focal aware seizures remain conscious. Focal aware seizures often precede larger focal impaired awareness seizures, where the abnormal electrical activity spreads to a larger area of the brain. This can result in a tonic - clonic seizure. Presentation Focal onset aware seizures are a very subjective experience, and the symptoms vary greatly between people. This is due to the varying locations of the brain the seizures originate in e.g. : Rolandic. A focal aware seizure may go unnoticed by others or shrugged off by the sufferer as merely a `` funny turn. '' Focal aware seizures usually start suddenly and are very brief, typically lasting 60 to 120 seconds. Some common symptoms of a focal onset aware seizure, when the person is awake, are : preserved consciousness sudden and inexplicable feelings of fear, anger, sadness, happiness or nausea sensations of falling or movement experiencing of unusual feelings or sensations altered sense of hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing, and tactile perception ( sensory illusions or hallucinations ), or feeling as though the environment is not real ( derealization ) or dissociation from the environment or self ( depersonalization ) a sense of spatial distortion -- things close by may appear to be at a distance déjà vu ( familiarity ) or jamais vu ( unfamiliarity ) laboured speech or inability to speak at all usually the event is remembered in detail When the seizure occurs during sleep, the person will often become semi-conscious and act out a dream they were having while engaging with the real environment as normal. Objects and people usually appear normal or only slightly distorted to them, and will be able to communicate with them on an otherwise normal level. However, since the person is still acting in the dream - like state from which they woke, they will assimilate any hallucinations or delusions into their communication, often speaking to a hallucinatory person or speaking of events or thoughts normally pertaining to the dream they were having or other hallucination. While asleep symptoms include : onset usually in REM sleep dream like state appearance of full consciousness hallucinations or delusions behavior or visions typical in dreams ability to engage with the environment and other people as in full consciousness, though often behaving abnormally, erratically, or failing to be coherent complete amnesia or assimilating the memory as though it was a normal dream on regaining full consciousness Although hallucinations may occur during focal aware seizures they are differentiated from psychotic symptoms by the fact that the person is usually aware that the hallucinations are not real. Jacksonian march Jacksonian march or Jacksonian seizure is a phenomenon where a focal aware seizure spreads from the distal part of the limb toward the ipsilateral face ( on same side of body ). They involve a progression of the location of the seizure in the brain, which leads to a `` march '' of the motor presentation of symptoms. Jacksonian seizures are initiated with abnormal electrical activity within the primary motor cortex. They are unique in that they travel through the primary motor cortex in succession, affecting the corresponding muscles, often beginning with the fingers. This is felt as a tingling sensation, or a feeling of waves through the fingers when touched together. It then affects the hand and moves on to more proximal areas on the same side of body. Symptoms often associated with a Jacksonian seizure are sudden head and eye movements, tingling, numbness, smacking of the lips, and sudden muscle contractions. Most of the time any one of these actions can be seen as normal movements, without being associated with the seizure occurring. They occur at no particular moment and last only briefly. They may result in secondary generalized seizure involving both hemispheres. They can also start at the feet, manifesting as tingling or pins and needles, and there are painful cramps in the foot muscles, due to the signals from the brain. Because it is a partial seizure, the postictal state is of normal consciousness. Focal impaired awareness seizure A focal impaired awareness seizure is a seizure that is associated with unilateral cerebral hemisphere involvement and causes impairment of awareness or responsiveness, i.e. alteration of consciousness. Presentation Focal impaired awareness seizures are often preceded by an aura. The seizure aura is a focal aware seizure. The aura may manifest itself as a feeling of déjà vu, jamais vu, fear, euphoria or depersonalization. The aura might also occur as a visual disturbance, such as tunnel vision or a change in the perceived size of objects. Once consciousness is impaired, the person may display automatisms such as lip smacking, chewing or swallowing. There may also be loss of memory ( amnesia ) surrounding the seizural event. The person may still be able to perform routine tasks such as walking, although such movements are not purposeful or planned. Witnesses may not recognize that anything is wrong. Focal impaired awareness seizures might arise from any lobe of the brain. They most commonly arise from the mesial temporal lobe, particularly the amygdala, hippocampus, and neocortical regions. A common associated brain abnormality is mesial temporal sclerosis. Mesial temporal sclerosis is a specific pattern of hippocampal neuronal loss accompanied by hippocampal gliosis and atrophy. Focal onset impaired awareness seizures occur when excessive and synchronous electrical brain activity causes the impaired awareness and responsiveness. The abnormal electrical activity might spread to the rest of the brain and cause a focal to bilateral seizure or a generalized tonic -- clonic seizure. The newer classification of 2017 groups only focal and generalized seizures, and generalised seizures are those that involve both sides of the brain from the onset. Eponym Jacksonian seizures are named after their discoverer, John Hughlings Jackson, an English neurologist, whose studies led to the discovery of the seizures ' initiation point ( in the primary motor cortex ) in 1863. References Jump up ^ `` Partial ( Focal ) Seizures ''. Johns Hopkins Medicine. The Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 1 September 2016. Jump up ^ Bradley, Walter G. ( 2012 ). `` 67 ''. Bradley 's neurology in clinical practice ( 6th ed. ). Philadelphia, PA : Elsevier / Saunders. ISBN 978 - 1437704341. Jump up ^ `` partial seizure '' at Dorland 's Medical Dictionary Jump up ^ ( 1 ), Epilepsy Society - Are all seizures the same. ^ Jump up to : `` 2017 Revised Classification of Seizures ''. Epilepsy Foundation. ^ Jump up to : `` Types of Seizures ''. Epilepsy Foundation. ^ Jump up to : Steven C. Schachter, MD ; Joseph I. Sirven, MD ( July 2013 ). `` Simple Focal Seizures ''. Epilepsy Foundation. Retrieved 31 August 2016. Jump up ^ Amit M. Shelat ( 27 February 2016 ). `` Partial ( focal ) seizure ''. MedlinePlus. Retrieved 31 August 2016. ^ Jump up to : Hart, YM ( 2007 ). Epilepsy Questions and Answers. Merit Publishing. ISBN 1873413874. Jump up ^ `` Dorlands Medical Dictionary : jacksonian epilepsy ''. Jump up ^ Trescher, William H., and Ronald P. Lescher 2000, p. 1748. ^ Jump up to : Trescher, William H., and Ronald P. Lescher 2000, p. 1749. ^ Jump up to : Murro, Anthony M. 2006. Jump up ^ Engelsen, B A., C Tzoulis, B Karlsen, A Lillebø, LM 2008. Jump up ^ Trescher, William H., and Ronald P. Lescher 2000, p. 1750. Jump up ^ Trepeta, Scott 2007. Jump up ^ `` International League Against Epilepsy. '' 2008. Jump up ^ Trescher, William H., and Ronald P. Lescher 2000, p. 1747. Jump up ^ synd / 3332 at Who Named It ? 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Question: where do partial seizures originate in the brain
Answer: the primary motor cortex