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Absolute Epilepsy and EEG Rotation Review pp 9–46Cite as

Seizures and Epilepsy

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Abstract

Epileptic seizures occur as a result of excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Epilepsy is a disease of the brain characterized by a continued propensity to produce epileptic seizures and which causes various deleterious effects on cognitive, psychological, and social domains. The causes of seizures are vast and include structural (i.e. malformations of cortical development, mesial temporal sclerosis, etc.), metabolic (many of which are epileptic encephalopathies), genetic (i.e. juvenile myoclonic epilepsy), and autoimmune (i.e. anti-NMDAR encephalitis) etiologies. The operational definition of epilepsy requires two or more unprovoked seizures (>24 h apart), one seizure with high probability of recurrent seizures, or diagnosis of an epilepsy syndrome. Various imaging modalities are available and may assist in the diagnosis of epilepsy, determining the etiology, and serve as an integral part of the epilepsy surgery evaluation. According to the 2017 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) seizure classification, seizures are now named according to the area of seizure onset (focal, generalized, unknown).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Mona Sazgar

  2. Department of Neurology, Riverside, CA, USA

    Michael G. Young

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  1. Mona Sazgar
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  2. Michael G. Young
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Sazgar, M., Young, M.G. (2019). Seizures and Epilepsy. In: Absolute Epilepsy and EEG Rotation Review. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03511-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03511-2_2

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