Exposure To Epileptogenic Stimuli Fever Infection Hypoxia During Development
Infants are exposed to a high risk of epileptogenic stimuli, represented by greater exposure to infectious agents that lead to fever and sometimes to cerebral infections. Neo-nates and infants may also often suffer from perinatal hypoxia/ischemia. In susceptible subjects, these stimuli may induce seizures, and because of the higher susceptibility of the young brain to seizures, these seizures occur multiple times a day and may be difficult to control with currently available AEDs (239-245). Several investigators have begun studying the effects of high temperature or hypoxia on seizures in rats with normal and abnormal brain. The pertinent questions are the following: In the experimental models, do the stimuli, such as fever or hypoxia, induce seizures if delivered early in life? If yes, do they increase subsequent seizure susceptibility? Is this change permanent? If the stimuli do not produce acute seizures, do they alter future susceptibility anyway? To date, there are studies using hyperthermia or hypoxia as the seizure-triggering stimuli in the developing brain. So far, there are no reports on infection-induced seizures.
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