many different disorders of the brain may be associated with epilepsy. for some patients the epileptic disorder is congenital that is the child is born with the predisposition to have epilepsy. in other patients the epileptic disorder is acquired as a result of brain damage that occurred after birth. congenital epilepsies could be the result of the child having a gene that is responsible for the epileptic disorder. these are the genetic types of epilepsy. alternatively congenital epilepsy may be the result of factors that interfere with the development of the brain during gestation resulting in brain malformations. in acquired epileptic disorders the damage might occur at the time of birth for example in the case of newborns who have oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery; or intracranial bleeding as is seen in some children born prematurely. also the brain damage may occur any time after birth. for example epilepsy could be a complication of infections in the brain (meningitis encephalitis) head injuries with brain damage brain tumors or intracranial bleeding.
what causes epilepsy in children?