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Vladimir Hachinski, MD, FRCPC, DScMed
London, Ontario

Arch Neurol. 1998;55:120.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MOVEMENT compels attention. No neurological event matches the riveting drama of a generalized convulsion. Few doubt that such a brainstorm can lead to cerebral damage. On the other hand, Young and Jordan and Aminoff all agree that brief absence seizures result in no detectable harm. However, Young and Jordan argue that nonconvulsive seizures can result in brain damage and marshal a formidable, albeit incomplete, array of experimental and clinical evidence to support their view. Aminoff looks at some of the same evidence and is not persuaded. He also points out that treatment of seizures itself carries risks.

Our ability to assess brain function is best at the height of alertness. Our capacity to do so in patients who are not alert is much coarser. A seizure involving the motor cortex gives us agitated clues to a disturbance, but how does the associative cortex, the vastest . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Do Nonconvulsive Seizures Damage the Brain?—Yes
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