Antiseizure Medications: A Clinician's Manual

Approximately 10% of the general population will experience at least one seizure within their lifetimes in most Western countries, and even higher rates are observed in developing countries. However, not all individuals go on to develop epilepsy, which is characterized by recurring epileptic seizures. The prevalence of epilepsy is 7.1 cases per 1,000 people (range 4.0 to 8.9) and its incidence is 47.4 cases per 100,000 people per year worldwide (Kotsopoulos et al., 2002; Hirtz et al., 2007). An epileptic seizure is the transient occurrence of signs or symptoms due to abnormal excessive, hypersynchronous firing of neurons in the brain. The practical clinical definition of epilepsy proposed by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) considers epilepsy to be a disease of the brain defined by any of the following conditions: (1) at least two unprovoked (or reflex) seizures occurring >24 hours apart; (2) one unprovoked (or reflex) seizure and a probability of further seizures similar to the general recurrence risk after two unprovoked seizures (at least 60%), occurring over the next 10 years; and (3) diagnosis of an epilepsy syndrome (Fisher et al., 2014). Epilepsy may be due to genetic causes (possessing an inherited trait to have seizures), brain tumors, infections (meningitis or encephalitis), brain trauma, stroke, developmental anomalies (eg, cortical dysplasia), brain malformations (tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis), vascular malformations (arteriovenous malformations), and other causes--

• | Author: Ali A. Asadi-Pooya, Michael R. Sperling
• | Publisher: Oxford University Press
• | Publication Date: Sep 30, 2022
• | Number of Pages: 336 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0197541216
• | ISBN-13: 9780197541210