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Textbook of Pediatric Neurosurgery pp 1–25Cite as

What Is Epilepsy?

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Abstract

Defining epilepsy is a dynamic and challenging process, constantly in evolution as our understanding of the brain and its underlying mechanisms expand. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has led the global effort over the last several decades, and the various definitions have gone through several revisions (Fisher et al. 2014; Fisher 2015). Most recently, the ILAE accepted a new practical clinical definition of epilepsy stated as:

A disease of the brain defined by any of the following conditions

  1. 1.

    At least two unprovoked (or reflex) seizures occurring > 24 h apart

  2. 2.

    One unprovoked (or reflex) seizure and a probability of further seizures similar to the general recurrence risk (at least 60%) after two unprovoked seizures, occurring over the next 10 years

  3. 3.

    Diagnosis of an epilepsy syndrome

Epilepsy is considered to be resolved for individuals who had an age-dependent epilepsy syndrome but are now past the applicable age or those who have remained seizure-free for the last 10 years, with no seizure medicines for the last 5 years. (Fisher et al. 2014)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SickKids, Toronto, Canada

    Berge Minassian

  2. Neurology Centre of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Evan Lewis

  3. Division of Paediatric Neurology, SickKids, Toronto, Canada

    Robyn Whitney

Authors
  1. Berge Minassian
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  2. Evan Lewis
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  3. Robyn Whitney
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Berge Minassian .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Neuroscience Institute, Hannover, Germany

    Concezio Di Rocco

  2. Oakland Medical Center, Oakland, California, USA

    Dachling Pang

  3. University of Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    James T. Rutka

Section Editor information

  1. The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, The University of Toronto, Toronto, ONT, USA

    James Thomas Rutka

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Minassian, B., Lewis, E., Whitney, R. (2018). What Is Epilepsy?. In: Di Rocco, C., Pang, D., Rutka, J. (eds) Textbook of Pediatric Neurosurgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31512-6_96-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31512-6_96-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31512-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31512-6

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