Other Seizures Myoclonic epilepsy is a rare genetic seizure that can be mild and cause brief periods of jerkiness in limited parts of the body, such as the face or trunk, or it may be severe, with grand mal seizures, hearing loss, mental damage, and heart problems. A person who has an atonic, or akinetic, seizure loses muscle tone. Sometimes it may affect only one part of the body, so that, for instance, the jaw slackens and the head drops. At other times, the whole body may lose muscle tone, and the person suddenly falls. A brief atonic episode is known as a drop attack.
Seizures can also be simply tonic or clonic.
In tonic seizures, the muscles contract and consciousness is altered for about 10 seconds, but the seizures do not progress to the clonic or jerking phase. Clonic seizures, which are very rare, occur primarily in young children, who experience spasms of the muscles but not the tonic rigidity. All rights reserved.