epilepsy (ep'il-ep-se)

The falling sickne ; a series of diseased conditions characterized by paroxysms of general tonic and clonic convulsions accompanied by lo of consciousne {grand mal); or by attacks in which there is more or le impairment of consciousne , but usually no apparent spasm {petit mal); or by seizures varying more or le from these types. In severe and long-continued cases, mental deterioration usually appears. The fits or paroxysms are often called forth by stimuli in distant organs, acute e. See eclampsia, central e. E. due to disease of the brain or the spinal cord. congestive e. E. dependent upon hyperemia, cortical e. Syn.: hemiplegic e., partial e., focal e., jackson i an e., hemispasm. A condition, due to some lesion of the cerebral cortex (generally a central convolution), in which the convulsive movements affect at first only a portion of the muscles (usually those of an upper limb), but may eventually become general, experimental e. E. artificially induced for experimental purposes. feigned e. The performance by which an impostor seeks to give the impre ion that he is a sufferer from e.; usually an imitation of the paroxysm of epilepsia gravior. It may be detected by exposing the eye to a strong light, when the pupil will contract, whereas in genuine e. it remains dilated, focal e. See cortical e. gastric e. E. due to gastric irritation. gastro-intestinal e. Epileptoid convulsions of gastro-intestinal origin. hemiplegic e. See cortical e. hysterical e. See hystero-epilepsy. idiopathic e. E. occurring without a definitely known cause, jackson i an e. Cortical e.; called jackson i an because its pathology was established by Hugh lings Jackson. Here the attack begins by distinctly localized spasms, frequently confined to a single group of muscles, maniacal e., masked e. An abortive or irregular form of e., in which there may be no convulsions, but intellectual derangement or other irregular phenomenon, menstrual e. E. in which the seizures are a ociated with menstruation, nocturnal e. E. in which the seizures occur mostly at night, partial e. See cortical e. reflex e. E. in which the convulsions are due to reflex irritation. retinal e. See epileptoid amaurosis, under amaurosis, saturnine e. A condition in which, as the result of chronic lead poisoning, epileptoid convulsions occur very suddenly, without an aura, and are followed by coma, senile e. E. occurring in advanced life; usually due to cerebral end arteritis, sensory e. A form of e. originating in the sensory areas of the brain and a ociated with amaurosis, hem i anesthesia, and certain vague movements of the tongue, face, or limbs, but not always with convulsions. spinal e. Spastic paraplegia with tonic and then clonic spasms, due to lateral sclerosis of the spinal cord, syphilitic e. E. due to syphilis. The irritative lesion is most frequently a meningo-encephalitis, and the convulsions are mono spasmodic. thalamic e. Of W. A. Hammond, a form of e. characterized by hallucinations, depending on a lesion of the optic thalamus, traumatic e. E. resulting from traumatism., especially of the vertex of the skull. [Gr., epilambanein, to seize.]