Can temporal lobe epilepsy be misdiagnosed?

Can temporal lobe epilepsy be misdiagnosed?

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), a subset of the seizure disorder family, represents a complex neuropsychiatric illness, where the neurological presentation may be complemented by varying severity of affective, behavioral, psychotic, or personality abnormalities, which, in turn, may not only lead to misdiagnosis, but also …

Are seizures connected to schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia patients probably are more prone to seizures than the general population. This vulnerability may be conferred by the neuropathological substrate of schizophrenia itself, as well as by the secondary effects of the illness and by exposure to medications that lower the seizure threshold.

What is a psychotic seizure?

Psychosis includes delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, mood changes, and aggressive behavior. It typically emerges after a lucid interval of hours or days after the last seizure. This treatable disorder is associated with serious morbidity and mortality.

What is the rarest form of epilepsy?

Dravet Syndrome

• Dravet syndrome is a rare, drug-resistant epilepsy that begins in the first year of life in an otherwise healthy infant.
• Most cases are due to severe SCN1A gene mutations.
• Most children develop varying degrees of developmental disability.

Can Ethosuximide cause psychosis?

The adverse effect of psychosis has been associated with ethosuximide since the advent of its use. Fisher et al. published a case series in 1965 documenting five episodes of psychosis in 3 of 105 adult patients treated in a 3-year period [4].

What does a temporal lobe seizure feel like?

A sudden sense of unprovoked fear or joy. A deja vu experience — a feeling that what’s happening has happened before. A sudden or strange odor or taste. A rising sensation in the abdomen, similar to being on a roller coaster.

Is psychotic epileptic disorder real?

A rather unusual type of psychosis in people with epilepsy occurs when seizures are well controlled by seizure medicines. The psychotic symptoms are inversely related to the occurrence of seizures, generally in people who have had epilepsy for a long time.

How is temporal lobe epilepsy different from schizophrenia?

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and psychosis of epilepsy have significantly smaller brain volume than people with temporal lobe epilepsy alone, and psychosis of epilepsy is a distinct nosologic entity differing from schizophrenia. [21] Kanner states that various classifications have been proposed for the psychoses associated with epilepsy.

Is there such a thing as schizophrenia like epilepsy?

The Schizophrenia-like Psychoses of Epilepsy: i. Psychiatric Aspects In 1953, in an article intended for the general practitioner, Denis Hill made a brief reference to the chronic paranoid psychoses which may develop in association with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Can a seizure be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia?

It’s important to differentiate a seizure from that of a behavioral disorder, but it’s difficult. Mental Health — Epilepsy can be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia. Some patients suffer hallucinations and other similar symptoms, or even severe psychotic symptoms, making a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia possible.

Why are seizure symptoms often mistaken for epilepsy?

Because symptoms of these disorders can look very much like epileptic seizures, they are often mistaken for epilepsy. Distinguishing between true epileptic seizures and nonepileptic events can be very difficult and requires a thorough medical assessment, careful monitoring, and knowledgeable health professionals.

Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and psychosis of epilepsy have significantly smaller brain volume than people with temporal lobe epilepsy alone, and psychosis of epilepsy is a distinct nosologic entity differing from schizophrenia. [21] Kanner states that various classifications have been proposed for the psychoses associated with epilepsy.

How does epilepsy lead to schizophrenia like psychosis?

According to this view, epilepsy patients who develop chronic schizophrenia-like psychosis have a brain lesion that makes them vulnerable to psychosis. This lesion may be neurodevelopmental, leading to cortical dysgenesis, or be acquired through trauma, hypoxia, infection, etc.

Can a person with ictal psychosis have epilepsy?

Patients with ictal psychosis usually have a history of epilepsy. By definition, ictal psychosis is concurrently associated with epileptic discharges in the brain, and except in some patients with simple partial status ( 15 ), scalp EEG abnormalities are detectable.

Are there any mental health disorders associated with epilepsy?

This paper outlines a spectrum of mental health presentations, including psychosis, mood, anxiety, panic, and dissociative states, associated with epilepsy that make the correct diagnosis a challenge.