Absence status seen in an adult patient
A 43-year-old woman was referred to our clinic by the psychiatrist for indifference to her surroundings and failure to answer the questions posed to her for the last two days. She was reported mild impairment of consciousness manifests as slow reaction, behavior, and mental functioning. These impairment of consciousness periods occur about 10 times an hour, each lasting for 10-20 seconds. A detailed examination of the patient's history showed that her complaints started when she was 10 years old and occurred 2-3 times a week for 10 seconds each. During these periods of absentmindedness, the patient stared at a certain point, did not answer any questions, and after a period of 10-15 seconds, she resumed whatever she was doing before the seizure. Her coordination was impaired and she was uncooperative. The patient was admitted to hospital.\nHematological estimations and serum biochemical analyses were normal. Cranial MRI was evaluated as normal. Her EEG revealed 3-Hz diffuse spike-and-slow wave activity []. The patient was evaluated as absence status epilepticus and administered valproic acid (20 mg/kg/IV loading followed by 2 mg/kg/IV infusion for 24 hours on end). Her seizures stopped after 8 hours. The EEG taken 1 day later was evaluated as normal []. The EEG taken 1 day later was evaluated as normal []. It was found out that the patient did not suffer from any GTC or myoclonic seizures in her history and did not receive any medical treatment. She was diagnosed juvenile absence epilepsy and put on 1000 mg/day oral valproic acid treatment. The patient was found seizure-free in the clinical follow-up. Follow-up EEGs were also evaluated as normal.