BIOLOGY 2D03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Qt Interval, Generalised Epilepsy, Hypoglycemia
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
normal.
Investigations
Check capillary blood glucose for hypoglycaemia.
ECG- may show potentially life threatening cardiac cause
Check blood pressure, both lying and standing.
Bloods: electrolytes, calcium and magnesium.
EEG- generally not performed after a first seizure because it may be normal in
those who go on to have epilepsy and abnormal in those who never have
another seizure, with the EEG adding little to prognosis at this stage.
Consider blood or urine samples for drug levels if drug-taking is considered.
Her ECG shows a prolonged corrected QT interval, making the diagnosis of a long QT
syndrome. This disorder has a number of genetic causes, and in some cases an
arrhythmia can be precipitated by a sudden loud noise.
Management
MDT approach- refer to pediatric cardiology for specialist intervention
Conservative
Explain the condition
Provide information on the condition –leaflets
Refer to counseling and pysch services if indicated
Medical
Anti-arrhythmic drug treatment
Surgical
Implantable Cardio-defibrillator
Notes
The first task is to distinguish between true epileptic seizures (fits) from faints and
funny turns.
A convulsion, seizure or fit is a neuronal motor discharge of all or part of the
body, with one or more of the following elements: tonic or dystonic spasms
(stiffening); clonic or myoclonic spasms (jerking); astatic episodes (falling).
An epileptic fit or seizure consists of intermittent or stereotyped disturbance
of cerebral cortical function. Broken down into Generalised or
Partial/Focal/Localised. Then described as how it affects the persons
JWH, JM, AJS
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Document Summary
Ecg- may show potentially life threatening cardiac cause. Check blood pressure, both lying and standing. Consider blood or urine samples for drug levels if drug-taking is considered. Her ecg shows a prolonged corrected qt interval, making the diagnosis of a long qt syndrome. This disorder has a number of genetic causes, and in some cases an arrhythmia can be precipitated by a sudden loud noise. Mdt approach- refer to pediatric cardiology for specialist intervention. Refer to counseling and pysch services if indicated. The first task is to distinguish between true epileptic seizures (fits) from faints and funny turns. A convulsion, seizure or fit is a neuronal motor discharge of all or part of the body, with one or more of the following elements: tonic or dystonic spasms (stiffening); clonic or myoclonic spasms (jerking); astatic episodes (falling). An epileptic fit or seizure consists of intermittent or stereotyped disturbance of cerebral cortical function. Then described as how it affects the persons.
