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The onset of idiopathic seizures typically affects patients between ages 5 and 20.
Therefore, be highly suspicious of a diagnosable etiology in patients who present with new onset seizure prior to age 5 or after age 20.
Common causes of such seizures include:
- Tumors or other structural brain lesions (i.e. intracranial hemorrhage)
- Traumatic brain injury
- Abrupt cessation of alcohol abuse
- Dementia ( i.e. Alzheimer's disease)
- Congenital brain defects
- Intra-partum brain injury
- Hypoglycemia or hyponatremia
- Renal or hepatic insufficiency
- Cocaine or amphetamine illicit drug use
- Abrupt cessation of benzodiazepines, barbiturates, analgesics (i.e. morphine, gabapentin), or sleeping pills
- Infection (i.e. brain abscess, meningitis, encephalitis, neurosyphilis, AIDS)
- Phenylketonuria (PKU) in infants