Paroxysmal attacks or paroxysms (from Greek παροξυσμός) are a sudden recurrence or intensification of

symptom Signs and symptoms are the observed or detectable signs, and experienced symptoms of an illness, injury, or condition. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature than normal, raised or lowered blood pressure or an abnormality showin ...

s, such as a spasm or seizure. These short, frequent symptoms can be observed in various clinical conditions. They are usually associated with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

or pertussis, but they may also be observed in other disorders such as

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include seizures, hallucinations, ...

, head trauma,

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, asthma, trigeminal neuralgia,

breath-holding spells Breath-holding spells (BHS) are the occurrence of episodic apnea in children, possibly associated with loss of consciousness, and changes in postural tone. Breath-holding spells occur in approximately 5% of the population with equal distribution ...

, epilepsy, malaria, tabes dorsalis, and Behçet's disease, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH). It has also been noted as a symptom of gratification disorder in children. The word paroxysm means "sudden attack, outburst", and comes from the Greek παροξυσμός (''paroxusmos''), "irritation, exasperation".παροξυσμός
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Paroxysmal attacks in various disorders have been reported extensively and ephaptic coupling of demyelinated

nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...

s has been presumed as one of the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon. This is supported by the presence of these attacks in multiple sclerosis and tabes dorsalis, which both involve demyelination of spinal cord neurons. Exercise, tactile stimuli, hot water, anxiety and neck flexion may provoke paroxysmal attacks. Most reported paroxysmal attacks are painful tonic spasms, dysarthria and ataxia, numbness and hemiparesis. They are typically different from other

transient ECHELON, originally a secret government code name, is a surveillance program ( signals intelligence/SIGINT collection and analysis network) operated by the five signatory states to the UKUSA Security Agreement:Given the 5 dialects that ...

symptoms by their brevity (lasting no more than 2 minutes), frequency (from 1–2 times/day up to a few hundred times/day), stereotyped fashion and excellent response to drugs (usually carbamazepine). Withdrawal of symptoms without any residual neurological finding is another key feature in their recognition.

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{{CNS diseases of the nervous system Neurological disorders

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