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Review

Epilepsy

Charles M. Epstein
H Kenneth Walker  1 , W Dallas Hall  1 , J Willis Hurst  1
, editors.
In: Clinical Methods: The History, Physical, and Laboratory Examinations. 3rd edition. Boston: Butterworths; 1990. Chapter 56.
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Review

Epilepsy

Charles M. Epstein.
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Excerpt

An epileptic seizure is an episode of altered behavior resulting from abnormal, paroxysmal electrical discharge within the gray matter of the brain. Epilepsy consists of recurrent epileptic seizures in the absence of extraordinary provocation. Widespread, forceful, and repetitive contraction of the body musculature is termed a convulsion. Convulsions are not necessarily specific for epileptic seizures. Coordinated but involuntary motor activities occurring during the course of a seizure, usually with clouding of consciousness, are called automatisms.

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References

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    1. Escueta AVD, Kunze U et al. Lapse of consciousness and automatisms in temporal lobe epilepsy: a videotape analysis. Neurology. 1977;27:144–55. - PubMed
    1. Escueta AVD, Treiman DM, Walsh GO. The treatable epilepsies. N Engl J Med. 1983;308:1508–14. - PubMed
    1. Gloor P. Generalized epilepsy with spike-and-wave discharge; a reinterpretation of its electrographic and clinical manifestations. Epilepsia. 1979;20:571–88. - PubMed
    1. Niedermeyer E. Epilepsy guide. Diagnosis and treatment of epileptic seizure disorders. Baltimore: Urban and Schwarzenberg, 1983.

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