Epilepsy in Clinical Practice: A Case Study Approach

More than 2 million Americans suffer from seizures. Each year, almost 200,000 people experience a seizure for the first time and approximately 100,000 require hospital admissions. The majority of these patients receive care from primary care physicians and general neurologists.

Epilepsy in Clinical Practice: A Case Study Approach highlights dramatic diagnostic and therapeutic advances that impact upon the medical care of patients with epilepsy. Computerized imaging studies, new and improved medications, refined brain surgery techniques, increased experience with the ketogenic diet, and the Food and Drug Administration approval of the vagal nerve stimulator have elevated the state of the art. Medical decision making has correspondingly increased in complexity. This book lends clarity and confidence to the practical management of patients with seizures.

For easy accessibility to key information, the book is organized into two sections. Management approaches to epilepsy are reviewed through a series of case studies that present the most common problems seen in clinical practice. This is followed by extensive appendices that include tables, charts, and checklists, web sites for physicians and patients, state driving regulations, summer camps for children with epilepsy, local affiliates of the Epilepsy Foundation, contact telephone numbers for pharmaceutical companies, and numerous other resources.