Epilepsy laboratory findings
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Vishnu Vardhan Serla M.B.B.S. [2]
Laboratory Findings
- Laboratory findings consistent with the diagnosis of epileptic seizure include:[1]
- Elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK)
- Elevated cortisol
- Elevated white blood cell count
- Elevated lactate dehydrogenase
- Elevated neuron-specific enolase
The diagnosis of epilepsy requires the presence of recurrent, unprovoked seizures; accordingly, it is usually made based on the medical history. EEG, brain MRI, SPECT, PET, and magnetoencephalography may be useful to discover an etiology for the epilepsy, discover the affected brain region, or classify the epileptic syndrome, but these studies are not useful in making the initial diagnosis.
Long-term video-EEG monitoring for epilepsy is the gold standard for diagnosis, but it is not routinely employed owing to its high cost, low availability and inconvenience.
Convulsive or other seizure-like activity, non-epileptic in origin, can be observed in many other medical conditions. These non-epileptic seizures can be hard to differentiate and may lead to misdiagnosis.
Epilepsy covers conditions with different aetiologies, natural histories and prognoses, each requiring different management strategies. A full medical diagnosis requires a definite categorisation of seizure and syndrome types.[2]
References
- ↑ Willert C, Spitzer C, Kusserow S, Runge U (May 2004). "Serum neuron-specific enolase, prolactin, and creatine kinase after epileptic and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures". Acta Neurol. Scand. 109 (5): 318–23. doi:10.1046/j.1600-0404.2003.00232.x. PMID 15080857.
- ↑ C P Panayiotopoulos and M Koutroumanidis (2005). "The significance of the syndromic diagnosis of the epilepsies". National Society for Epilepsy. Unknown parameter
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