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Because not every person who has a seizure necessarily has epilepsy, the
doctor must determine the seizure’s cause by a physical exam and medical
history, including descriptions of the seizures that have already occurred.
The doctor must assess risk factors such as sleep deprivation and alcohol
use, as well as possible head injuries, childhood seizures, or family history
of seizures.
The physician also wants to know if the patient has experienced an
aura; having experienced an aura helps confirm that the seizure is a brain
disorder and establishes its location. The doctor also asks about the nature
of the movements the person made during a seizure.
If the patient has indeed experienced an epileptic seizure, the doctor
then tries to identify the type of seizure. The first tool doctors use is an
electroencephalograph (e-lek-tro-en-SEF-a-lo-graf). Commonly known
as an EEG, this machine records electric currents in the brain and can
track abnormal electrical activity. If the EEG does not show the seizure
activity, or if certain other features in the patient’s physical exam or
medical history are present, then the doctor may try other types of scans,
including CT (computerized tomography) scans or MRIs (magnetic
resonance imaging).