Assessment and Diagnosis of epilepsy

Assessment and Diagnosis of epilepsy

Introduction

PDF (684 K HYPERLINK "http /www .sciencedirect .com /science ?_ob RedirectURL _method outwardLin k _partnerName 655 _targetURL http 3A 2F 2Fwww .scopus .com 2Fscopus 2Finw ard 2Frecord .url 3Feid 3D2-s2 .2 26partnerID 3D10 26rel 3DR3 0 .0 26md5 3D0e480069c18326c0948b1f6616b216fd _acct C1 _version 1 _userid 1583010 md5 9af7e7e016d8ae9045b3a7db58f7eb85 " \t "outwardLink View Record in Scopus Cited By in Scopus (46 )The term epilepsy encompasses a number of different syndromes , the cardinal feature of which is a predisposition to recurrent unprovoked seizures . Seizures , in turn , are sudden , brief

attacks of altered consciousness motor sensory , cognitive , psychic , or autonomic disturbances or inappropriate behavior caused by abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain (Elgar and Schmidt , 2008 . HYPERLINK "http /www .sciencedirect .com /science ?_ob ArticleURL _udi B6WDT-4S0R6V6- 2 _user 1583010 _coverDate 05 2F31 2F2008 _alid 8 _rdoc 22 _fmt high _orig search _cdi 6775 _sort d _docanchor view c _ct 361 _acct C00 0053881 _version 1 _urlVersion 0 _userid 1583010 md5 ade61cb69e18d689f65 6d7f2395e47c2 " \l "aff2

Assessment

Epilepsy is primarily a clinical diagnosis and therefore , a good clinical history is the most important aspect of assessment to determine whether a patient has epilepsy and also to determine the underlying causes . A history must include perinatal insults and complications , history of meningitis , encephalitis or head injury family medical history , medication , history of alcohol or drug abuse and detail history of seizures . Possible investigation would include routine bloods , erythrocyte sedimentation rate , electrolytes , liver function , calcium and glucose (Crumbie and Lawrence , 2002 ,

.146 . The past medical history will help the examiner focus upon past or current medical problems that may impact treatment planning . Illnesses such as hypertension or diabetes may have a direct impact on the brain function The development of family history helps to organize data analysis around possible genetic factors that may play a role in the treatment (Granachar , 2003 ,

.260

In case of lateral temporal lobe epilepsy , a range of test needs to be undertaken as a part of pre-surgical evaluation . The range of tests applied depends on the type of surgery being offered . Important aspects like observable features of the seizures , the aura and seizure manifestations as experienced by patient , post icral features , seizure precipitants , the onset and temporal evolution of the seizures , their pattern overtime , seizure frequency and timing , family history and response to therapy need to be carefully documented . The aetiology of the epilepsy can often be ascertained from history and therefore enquiry needs to be directed towards this (Shorvon et al , 2004 ,

.588

Diagnosis

PDF (72 K HYPERLINK "http /www .sciencedirect .com /science ?_ob RedirectURL _method outwardLin k _partnerName 655 _targetURL http 3A 2F 2Fwww .scopus .com 2Fscopus 2Finw ard 2Frecord .url 3Feid 3D2-s2 . 26partnerID 3D10 26rel 3DR3 .0 .0 26md5 3D0ce0ed785f039295c3c9c276ae27f36d _acct C1 _version 1 _userid 1583010 md5 2ee9df4f3e48fea88dd745 " \t "outwardLink View Record in Scopus Cited By in Scopus (9 (Plug et al , 2008

Whereas epilepsy and fainting or epilepsy and sleep diss can be distinguished reliably on the basis...