Epilepsy in the Adolescent

Abstract

Onset of puberty may exacerbate a previously well-controlled convulsive disorder. Focal seizures and major motor deficits may take a different form in late childhood or early adolescence. True petit mal is primarily a disease of childhood, but it may present de novo in adolescence, with atypical aspects. The area in which physicians most often fail their epileptic patients is not in seizure control but in providing vocational and family counseling to integrate the patient into a self-sufficient role in society.