Idiopathic and Benign Partial Epilepsies of Childhood Elaine C. Wirrell Carol S. Camfield Peter R. Camfield The benign and idiopathic partial epilepsies (IPEs) of childhood account for approximately one-fifth of…
Symptomatic Focal Epilepsies Nancy Foldvary-Schaefer Certain epileptic disorders are characterized by clusters of signs and symptoms that are considered epileptic syndromes. Because most of these syndromes have numerous etiologic factors,…
Classification of the Epilepsies Tobias Loddenkemper Hans O. Lüders Imad M. Najm Elaine Wyllie The most widely used system for classification of epilepsies was proposed in 1989 by the Commission…
Epileptic Spasms W. Donald Shields Susan Koh In 1841, James West wrote a letter to Lancet describing an infant with a “peculiar” seizure disorder (1). He gave a remarkably clear…
Atypical Absence, Myoclonic, Tonic, and Atonic Seizures William O. Tatum IV Kevin Farrell Atypical absence, myoclonic, tonic, and atonic seizures are all types of generalized seizures that occur when the…
Absence Seizures Selim R. Benbadis Samuel F. Berkovic Absence seizures are the most extensively studied type of epileptic seizure. The remarkable association of clinical absences with generalized spike-wave discharges was…
Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures Bruce J. Fisch Piotr W. Olejniczak Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCSs) are the oldest known and most feared of all epileptic attacks. They are also the final common…
Focal Motor Seizures, Epilepsia Partialis Continua, and Supplementary Sensorimotor Seizures Andreas V. Alexopoulos Dudley S. Dinner HISTORY Focal motor seizures have been recognized since the time of Hippocrates, who first…
Focal Seizures with Impaired Consciousness Prakash Kotagal Tobias Loddenkemper HISTORICAL BACKGROUND From the earliest description of epileptic seizures, in a Babylonian medical text collection (1067-1046 BC), impaired consciousness has been…
Epileptic Auras Norman K. So The word aura (from the Greek for “air,” Latin for “breeze”) was first applied to epilepsy by Galen’s teacher, Pelops (1), who interpreted reports of…
