Rhythmic, wave-like contractions rippling across a person's abdomen can look strikingly like belly dancing. Sometimes, they are a seizure.
In a short report in the February 2026 issue of Epileptic Disorders, neurologists at Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu in Sant Boi de Llobregat, near Barcelona, Spain, describe a case of this kind that they classified as focal motor status epilepticus, a prolonged seizure, of vascular origin, meaning it stemmed from a problem with the brain's blood supply.