Discriminating between absence and com plex partial seizures sometimes may be a diagnostic hurdle. The latter is much more common than the former, especially in adults his Making the correct diagnosis is important be cause only complex partial seizures imply the presence of focal brain disease and the therapies for the two types vary somewhat. If a reliable witness can be found, the two seizure types can be distinguished accurately by the duration of the attack. Almost all absence seizures last less than 15 seconds, and many are shorter. However, most complex partial seizures continue for more than 30 seconds, with many lasting 1 to 1.5 minutes. Auras, automatisms, and postictal confusion are common with complex partial seizures but are not characteristic of absence seizures. Postictal language difficulty or other focal neurologic signs may be reported after a complex partial seizure.