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Does Removal Of Tonsils Help With Seizures Before And After Sleeping?
Question: I have a six year old son who has had seizures since he was 11 mos old. He has had an EEG done at least twice with no finding's. He is on 7.5 mil of Keppra 8.0 mil of Trileptal and 2.0 mil of Vimpat. His seizures have only occured while he is sleeping. Usually a few minutes after he falls asleep or a few minutes before waking up. No one has been able to diagnose a cause. I have read and heard of the seizures stopping after removal of their tonsils. My sons tonsils are rather large. I'm reaching out for answers.
Brief Answer:
Could be benign sleep myoclonus
Detailed Answer:
Hi....I have gone through the case history you have provided. Seizure like movements occurring just before going to sleep and while coming out of sleepy point out towards benign sleep myoclonus which actually is not a seizure by itself. Moreover you say his EEG has been normal twice. However before committing on this diagnosis I need more information. Kindly get back to me with answers to below questions-
1. Was he born by normal delivery or was it assisted labor or caesarean?
2. Did he cry immediately after birth?
3. Did he accept direct breast feeds in 1st 24 hours of life well?
4. How is his achieving of developmental milestones?
5. At any point of time was a neuroimaging or brain scan done, either CT scan or MRI scan? If so what was the report?
6. What are the exact ages at which 2 EEG s were done?
7. Each time while EEG was done, what was the interval between the seizure episode and EEG?
8. On average how many of these episodes occur per month?
Now coming to your query - tonsillectomy or removal of tonsils might help in obese kids with obstructive sleep apnea, where in oxygen deprivation to brain during deep sleep might cause seizure.
Unless your kid is very obese and having severe snoring and obstructive symptoms during sleep, tonsillectomy might not help him in my opinion.
Regards - Dr. Sumanth
Could be benign sleep myoclonus
Detailed Answer:
Hi....I have gone through the case history you have provided. Seizure like movements occurring just before going to sleep and while coming out of sleepy point out towards benign sleep myoclonus which actually is not a seizure by itself. Moreover you say his EEG has been normal twice. However before committing on this diagnosis I need more information. Kindly get back to me with answers to below questions-
1. Was he born by normal delivery or was it assisted labor or caesarean?
2. Did he cry immediately after birth?
3. Did he accept direct breast feeds in 1st 24 hours of life well?
4. How is his achieving of developmental milestones?
5. At any point of time was a neuroimaging or brain scan done, either CT scan or MRI scan? If so what was the report?
6. What are the exact ages at which 2 EEG s were done?
7. Each time while EEG was done, what was the interval between the seizure episode and EEG?
8. On average how many of these episodes occur per month?
Now coming to your query - tonsillectomy or removal of tonsils might help in obese kids with obstructive sleep apnea, where in oxygen deprivation to brain during deep sleep might cause seizure.
Unless your kid is very obese and having severe snoring and obstructive symptoms during sleep, tonsillectomy might not help him in my opinion.
Regards - Dr. Sumanth
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju
Answered by
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