My son is 3 and he has been diagnosed with seizure disorder. It isn't epilepsy that they can find. He has done all the tests including an MRI of the brain, EEG, CATSCAN and blood tests to prove that there is no masses or such on the brain. My son has seizures still and my question is this: My son's neurologist told us that during a seizure, the blood pressure will drop and the pulse will increase to about 140bpm. This doesn't happen with our son. His blood pressure stays the same and his pulse raises, but only slightly. What does happen is that his blood saturation levels go way down into the low 80s. Is this normal? Could this mean there is something else causing the seizures such as a malfunction of the lungs? This scares me for many reasons, the biggest one is the history I have in my family of lung diseases. Anyhow, I know this is probably a stupid question but I need an answer. (the info at the top is my son's not mine)
Usually epilepsy is not caused by any type of lung disease! Rather, epilepsy is a neurological disease. Its origins can be both known or unknown. Known causes of epilepsy can include brain tumors, vascular anomalies or insults, infections, injuries etc. When the reason for epilepsy is known and identified, it is called "secondary", or "symptomatic" epilepsy. MRIs and CT-scans are used to identify the reason for epilepsy (seizures). If the reason for epilepsy is unknown, the condition is called "primary" or "idiopathic" epilepsy. Idiopathic epilepsy is usually genetically conditioned. Your son is probably experiencing idiopathic epilepsy because there is nothing on the CT and MRI that indicates its causes. There are no rules or norms regarding blood pressure and pulse behavior during the seizures.
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