The Primary Care of Seizure Disorders

The Primary Care of Seizure Disorders: A Practical Guide to the Evaluation and Comprehensive Management of Seizure Disorders is designed to help physicians who in the course of clinical practice care for patients who have epileptic seizures. The intention is to provide a thorough but concise treatment of the subject which may serve as a basic text as well as a handy reference source for solving problems as they arise on a case-by-case basis. The book contains 10 chapters organized according to the sequence which clinical management often follows. These include differential diagnosis and genetic aspects of seizure disorders; the electroencephalographic evaluation; medical therapy of seizure disorders, including first aid and the treatment of status epilepticus; psychiatric aspects of epilepsy; problems of noncompliance; medical-legal aspects of epilepsy; and finding ancillary, community resources for patients, including voluntary organizations and patient and lay education.

Coauthors

Acknowledgments

Preface

1. Seizure Disorders: Some Basic Considerations

Statistics

Intelligence

Neurological Consultation

2. The Clinical Evaluation of Seizures

Differential Diagnosis

Seizures from Acquired Toxic Metabolic Disturbances

Seizures Associated With Intracranial Infections

Seizures Associated With Brain Diseases of Unknown Origin

Acute Traumatic Seizures

Management of the Single Seizure

Classification of the Epilepsies

Experimental Epilepsy

Partial and Secondary Generalized Epilepsy

Primary Generalized Epilepsies

Evaluation of the Patient With Possible Seizures

Seizures in Infancy and Early Childhood

3. Genetic Aspects of Epilepsy

Chromosomal Abnormalities

Mendelian Disorders

Genetic Susceptibility

Genetic Counseling

Conclusion and Tables

4. Electroencephalography

Source of the EEG

Obtaining the EEG

Requesting the EEG

The EEG Report

Electrogenesis of Seizures

The EEG in Seizure Disorders

Unusual EEG Patterns With Unproven Relationship to Epilepsy

Medications and the EEG

Sequence of the EEG Workup

Glossary of Selected EEG Terms

5. Medical Treatment of Seizure Disorders

Oral Drug Therapy

Cutaneous Reactions to Anticonvulsants

Other Considerations in Drug Therapy

Surgical Therapy

Tables

6. First Aid and Emergency Treatment of Status Epilepticus

First Aid

Status Epilepticus

Convulsive Generalized Tonic-clonic Status

Epilepticus

Generalized Tonic Status and Myoclonic Status

Absence Status

Unilateral Status Epilepticus

Partial Status Epilepticus

Neonatal Status Epilepticus

7. Practical Psychiatric Aspects of Epilepsy

Parents

Siblings

Epileptic Patient's Difficulties

Differential Diagnosis

Psychiatric Consultation

8. Noncompliance and the Management of Epilepsy

Assessing Compliance and Noncompliance

Reasons for Noncompliance

Improving Compliance

9. Medical-Legal Aspects of Epilepsy

Driving

Special Education

Employment

Criminal Justice System

Military Status

Civil Litigation

Medical Malpractice Implications of Epilepsy

10. Ancillary Management of Seizure Disorders

Voluntary Organizations

Patient and Lay Education

Unemployment

Index