Partial complex seizure

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Central nervous system

Partial complex seizure

Alternative Names:

Seizure - complex; Complex seizure
Symptoms:

alteration in consciousness
confusion, disorientation
decreased awareness/alertness
lack of concentration
loss of judgment
difficulty talking
delirium (rare)
eye or head deviation to one side
automatisms (complex, purposeless movements such as picking at clothing)
- abnormal behaviors
- may appear drowsy or intoxicated
- normal activities (such as eating or driving) may continue automatically
sensory hallucinations
- smell, impaired (somewhat common)
- abnormal taste (somewhat common)
- visual hallucinations
- auditory (hearing) hallucinations
recalled emotion (somewhat common)
sense of unreality
sense of deja vu
abdominal pain or discomfort
nausea
sweating
flushed face
dilated pupils (eyes)
rapid heart rate/pulse
chest pain
difficulty breathing, absent breathing
changes in vision, speech, thinking, awareness, personality
complex hallucinations or illusions
a loss of memory (amnesia) regarding events surrounding the seizure (very common)
may be confused for a short period of time after the seizure

Note: Symptoms commonly persist for longer than 15 seconds. Typically they last no longer than 2 minutes.
Signs and tests:

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The diagnosis is based primarily on the symptoms of the patient. The diagnosis of the cause begins with a completephysical examination, including a detailed neuromuscular examination, blood tests, and a possible lumbar puncture to rule out infection of the central nervous system.

An EEG may show changes characteristic of partial seizures, and may show the focus (the location of the cause) in the temporal or frontal lobe of the brain. A normal EEG does not rule out the possibility of seizures.
A head CT or head MRI scan may show the location and extent of the lesion causing the symptoms.