Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features

Palpitations are a common symptom of presentation in medical practice. They are usually caused by cardiac arrhythmias, psychiatric problems or other miscellaneous causes, such as anaemia or endocrine causes. They are rarely due to autonomic seizures. We report a 55-year-old woman who presented at Su...

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Main Author: Kawther T. El-Shafie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sultan Qaboos University 2013-05-01
Series:Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.squ.edu.om/index.php/squmj/article/view/1796
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author Kawther T. El-Shafie
author_facet Kawther T. El-Shafie
author_sort Kawther T. El-Shafie
collection DOAJ
description Palpitations are a common symptom of presentation in medical practice. They are usually caused by cardiac arrhythmias, psychiatric problems or other miscellaneous causes, such as anaemia or endocrine causes. They are rarely due to autonomic seizures. We report a 55-year-old woman who presented at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman, with recurrent episodes of palpitations. Her associated symptoms included breathlessness and excessive sweating, followed by a sensation of dizziness. During subsequent episodes, she experienced symptoms of rising abdominal pain followed by a loss of consciousness. Positive electroencephalogram findings, as well as the response of the symptoms to antiepileptic drugs, were strongly suggestive of temporal lobe epilepsy as the possible diagnosis. The fact that the cardiac investigations, performed during an interictal period, were unremarkable also supports the hypothesis that the palpitations were linked to seizures. Epilepsy should be considered as a differential diagnosis of palpitations, especially if the palpitations are episodic.
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spelling doaj.art-778d06cd045345509c816e440ee592532022-12-22T01:48:00ZengSultan Qaboos UniversitySultan Qaboos University Medical Journal2075-051X2075-05282013-05-011323393411720Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic FeaturesKawther T. El-Shafie0Department of Family Medicine & Public Health, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, OmanPalpitations are a common symptom of presentation in medical practice. They are usually caused by cardiac arrhythmias, psychiatric problems or other miscellaneous causes, such as anaemia or endocrine causes. They are rarely due to autonomic seizures. We report a 55-year-old woman who presented at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Oman, with recurrent episodes of palpitations. Her associated symptoms included breathlessness and excessive sweating, followed by a sensation of dizziness. During subsequent episodes, she experienced symptoms of rising abdominal pain followed by a loss of consciousness. Positive electroencephalogram findings, as well as the response of the symptoms to antiepileptic drugs, were strongly suggestive of temporal lobe epilepsy as the possible diagnosis. The fact that the cardiac investigations, performed during an interictal period, were unremarkable also supports the hypothesis that the palpitations were linked to seizures. Epilepsy should be considered as a differential diagnosis of palpitations, especially if the palpitations are episodic.https://journals.squ.edu.om/index.php/squmj/article/view/1796arrhythmias, cardiacepilepsy, temporal lobeseizurescase reportoman.
spellingShingle Kawther T. El-Shafie
Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features
Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal
arrhythmias, cardiac
epilepsy, temporal lobe
seizures
case report
oman.
title Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features
title_full Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features
title_fullStr Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features
title_full_unstemmed Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features
title_short Palpitations caused by a Seizure with Autonomic Features
title_sort palpitations caused by a seizure with autonomic features
topic arrhythmias, cardiac
epilepsy, temporal lobe
seizures
case report
oman.
url https://journals.squ.edu.om/index.php/squmj/article/view/1796
work_keys_str_mv AT kawthertelshafie palpitationscausedbyaseizurewithautonomicfeatures