There are two main types of absence seizure: typical and atypical. The two types are treated differently. Here we cover the typical absence seizures. These seizures used to be called petit mal seizures.

During an absence seizure, a child loses consciousness for a short time. Seizures usually last less than 10 seconds. But:

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Arzimanoglou A, Guerrini R, Aicardi J.
Epilepsies with typical absence seizures.
In: Aicardi's epilepsy in children (3rd edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Michelucchi R, Tassinari CA.
Childhood absence epilepsy.
In: Wallace S (editor). Epilepsy in children. Arnold, London, UK; 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

² It can be difficult to tell if your child has absence seizures. Before the seizures are diagnosed, children are sometimes told off for being careless or not paying attention. Teachers are often the people who notice that something is wrong.

If your child gets only absence seizures and is between the ages of 4 and 10 years old, your doctor might say they have childhood absence epilepsy.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Arzimanoglou A, Guerrini R, Aicardi J.
Epilepsies with typical absence seizures.
In: Aicardi's epilepsy in children (3rd edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Michelucchi R, Tassinari CA.
Childhood absence epilepsy.
In: Wallace S (editor). Epilepsy in children. Arnold, London, UK; 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

² This is a type of epilepsy.

Older children and adults can get absence seizures, but they'll usually get other seizures or symptoms as well. They might have a different type of epilepsy, such as juvenile absence syndrome or myoclonic absence epilepsy.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Michelucchi R, Tassinari CA.
Childhood absence epilepsy.
In: Wallace S (editor). Epilepsy in children. Arnold, London, UK; 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

²

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Panayiotopoulos CP.
Typical absence seizures and their treatment in children.
Archives of Disease in Childhood. 1999; 81: 351-355.

 

 

 

 

 

³ To learn more, see our articles on Epilepsy.

All types of epileptic seizure happen because the brain's electrical activity is disrupted. Nerve cells in the brain become overexcited and fire signals in a disorganized way. The result is a seizure.

Unfortunately, we know very little about why seizures happen. Doctors think children probably get absence seizures because of a problem with the

 

 

 

 

 

genes
Your genes are the parts of your cells that contain instructions for how your body works. Genes are housed on chromosomes, structures that sit in the nucleus at the middle of each of your cells. You have 23 pairs of chromosomes in your normal cells, each of which has thousands of genes. You get one set of chromosomes, and all of the genes that are on them, from each of your parents.

 

 

 

 

 

genes that control how their brain works.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Arzimanoglou A, Guerrini R, Aicardi J.
Epilepsies with typical absence seizures.
In: Aicardi's epilepsy in children (3rd edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott, 2003.

 

 

 

 

 

¹

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Michelucchi R, Tassinari CA.
Childhood absence epilepsy.
In: Wallace S (editor). Epilepsy in children. Arnold, London, UK; 2004.

 

 

 

 

 

²

Because a child's brain switches off for a few seconds during an absence seizure, they might find it hard to learn, or might have more accidents.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Medline Plus: petit mal seizure.
June 2008. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000696.htm (accessed on 15 January 2009).

 

 

 

 

 

⁴ Treatment can reduce the number of seizures or might stop them altogether. Children who still get seizures may need to avoid some activities, such as climbing, swimming unsupervised or riding a bike on busy roads.

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