Could my 7-yr-old's complex partial seizures be caused by his asymptomatic Chiari I Malformation?
Posted by
saba
If so, is it possible that he could outgrow these conditions?
My son had his first seizure at age 3, just half an hour after I had given him some children's cough and cold medicine. The CT scan in the ER revealed a chiari I malformation. The doctors sent us to a neurosurgeon for it, and he had MRIs done every six months, and then annually. I think the Chiari measures around 7mm. Last January the neurosurgeon's replacement said we didn't need to come back.
Meanwhile, the neurologists started our son on Topamax after a second seizure. They said the seizures were idiopathic and when I asked, said they were not related to the Chiari I or the medication. Of course, cough and cold medicines have recently come under fire for causing problems, and one neurologist admitted that it could have "lowered his seizure threshold."
This week is the first time I've ever heard (from a layperson), that there could be a connection between the Chiari I Malformation and the seizures.
In the last four years, our son has had 5 EEGs, all normal. He's had only 5 seizures total: 2, one month apart, before we saw the neurologists, another one, about a month after the second, before his Topamax was titrated to a therapeutic level. Then he was seizure free for 20 1/2 months on the Topamax, but had a breakthrough seizure in April of 2007. They raised his dosage. Oddly, he had another seizure in August of 2007. (The only thing I can think that might have caused it was that we had only 4 days earlier switched his morning and evening doses to give him the larger dose at night. The neurologist didn't think that was the cause.) After the August 2007 seizure, he was admitted to the hospital and underwent another EEG, still normal.
In December of 2008, we switched to Keppra because the Topamax had adverse cognitive side effects and kept him from sweating. He made the transition smoothly, although the Keppra wreaks havoc with his temper. He was two years seizure-free as of Aug. 16, 2009. The neurologist recommended we keep him on medicaton until the end of the school year, assuming he has no more seizures, at which point we could try to wean him off and see if he's outgrown them. If there's a link to the Chiari, is there anything we can do about it?
Thanks
Posted by saba
If so, is it possible that he could outgrow these conditions?
My son had his first seizure at age 3, just half an hour after I had given him some children's cough and cold medicine. The CT scan in the ER revealed a chiari I malformation. The doctors sent us to a neurosurgeon for it, and he had MRIs done every six months, and then annually. I think the Chiari measures around 7mm. Last January the neurosurgeon's replacement said we didn't need to come back.
Meanwhile, the neurologists started our son on Topamax after a second seizure. They said the seizures were idiopathic and when I asked, said they were not related to the Chiari I or the medication. Of course, cough and cold medicines have recently come under fire for causing problems, and one neurologist admitted that it could have "lowered his seizure threshold."
This week is the first time I've ever heard (from a layperson), that there could be a connection between the Chiari I Malformation and the seizures.
In the last four years, our son has had 5 EEGs, all normal. He's had only 5 seizures total: 2, one month apart, before we saw the neurologists, another one, about a month after the second, before his Topamax was titrated to a therapeutic level. Then he was seizure free for 20 1/2 months on the Topamax, but had a breakthrough seizure in April of 2007. They raised his dosage. Oddly, he had another seizure in August of 2007. (The only thing I can think that might have caused it was that we had only 4 days earlier switched his morning and evening doses to give him the larger dose at night. The neurologist didn't think that was the cause.) After the August 2007 seizure, he was admitted to the hospital and underwent another EEG, still normal.
In December of 2008, we switched to Keppra because the Topamax had adverse cognitive side effects and kept him from sweating. He made the transition smoothly, although the Keppra wreaks havoc with his temper. He was two years seizure-free as of Aug. 16, 2009. The neurologist recommended we keep him on medicaton until the end of the school year, assuming he has no more seizures, at which point we could try to wean him off and see if he's outgrown them. If there's a link to the Chiari, is there anything we can do about it?
Thanks