Making a diagnosis involves identifying a condition or disease based on signs and symptoms. The diagnosis itself is the actual term for the condition or disease.
If your child has signs or symptoms that make your child's doctor suspect your child has epilepsy, he will do a thorough neurological assessment and order some diagnostic tests. The most common diagnostic test is an EEG.
Sometimes a diagnosis is made right away, but sometimes it takes a while to figure out what is wrong, especially if the child is very young, has features of different seizure types, or has a complex EEG pattern. Once the doctor knows what is happening with your child, he will sit down with you and explain the diagnosis and treatment.
Elements of the diagnosis may include:
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the type(s) of seizures your child is having
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whether the seizures are idiopathic (they have no apparent cause), symptomatic (they are caused by a known, underlying problem), or cryptogenic (they seem to be caused by an underlying problem, but the exact cause is unknown)
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a specific epilepsy syndrome
Each of these is discussed in more detail in this section.
It is difficult to explain everything about epilepsy at one meeting. Depending on the situation, it may take several sessions to talk about all the issues.
Each meeting with your child's doctors and other health professionals during diagnosis is important, and can be difficult emotionally. For these reasons, bring paper and a pen and take notes to help you remember the new information you may be learning and to write down questions as you think of them. You may also bring a relative or friend to take notes for you.
The doctor will present a treatment plan during one of your meetings. The treatment plan will likely include medication as a first step. In some cases, an operation may be needed. The doctor will explain and recommend the best choice for treatment for your child’s situation. Treatments are explained in the “Treatment” section.