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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffFrontal lobe epilepsy can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms may be mistaken for psychiatric problems or sleep disorders, such as night terrors. Your doctor may suggest the following tests.
Brain scans
Frontal lobe seizures can be caused by tumors, vascular malformations or traumatic injuries. Brain imaging, usually MRI, may reveal the abnormality.
MRI uses radio waves and a powerful magnetic field to produce very detailed images of soft tissues such as the brain. To undergo an MRI scan, you must lie on a narrow pallet that slides into a long tube. The test often takes about an hour to complete. Some people may feel claustrophobic inside MRI machines, although the test itself is painless.
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
An EEG monitors the electrical activity in your brain, via a series of electrodes attached to your scalp. EEGs are often helpful in diagnosing some types of epilepsy, but may be normal in frontal lobe epilepsy.
Video EEG
Video EEG is usually performed during an overnight stay at a hospital's sleep clinic. Both a video camera and an EEG monitor run all night. Doctors can then match the physical manifestations of a seizure with what appears on the EEG at precisely that same time. But video EEGs are expensive and may not be available locally for everyone.
- Seizures and epilepsy: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm. Accessed July 25, 2008.
- Benbadis SR. Localization-related epilepsy: Causes and clinical features. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 25, 2008.
- Tinuper P, et al. Movement disorders in sleep: Guidelines for differentiating epileptic from non-epileptic motor phenomena arising from sleep. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2007;11(4):255-267. Accessed July 25, 2008.
- Spencer SS. Seizures and Epilepsy. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/100381093-11/729142684/1492/1429.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50431-6--cesec5_18072. Accessed July 25, 2008.
- Epilepsies and Epilepsy Syndromes. In: Goetz CG. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/100601158-3/729786871/1488/445.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-3618-0..10052-9--s0170_4555. Accessed July 28, 2008.
- Neurological diagnostic tests and procedures. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/misc/diagnostic_tests.htm. Accessed July 28, 2008.
- Schuele SU, et al. Intractable epilepsy: Management and therapeutic alternatives. Lancet Neurology. 2008;7(6):514-524.
- Schachter SC. Surgical therapy of epilepsy in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 28, 2008.
- Schachter SC, et al. Vagus nerve stimulation therapy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 28, 2008.
- Cascino G (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 26, 2008.
