Up-to-date Critical Review of the Classification of Epilepsies and Epileptic Seizures

Abstract

The classification of epileptic seizures and epilepsies is a subject of interest in various medical disciplines (such as neurology, pediatric neurology, molecular biology and genetics, neurosurgery, pharmacology, radiology, histopathology), and each of them requires a different approach in their practice. In last 15 years, enormous amount of debate in which irrelevant to actual level of knowledge, were ongoing in the literature. Epilepsy classification is a fundamental tool that impacts not only daily clinical practice but also research era and education. The current lack of consensus in this field causes a serious obstacle in patient management, student and resident education, and information sharing among different scientific interest groups. The comparison of different classification proposals by means of positive and negative aspects is beyond the scope of discussion in this article; therefore, I will try to give a brief summary of our current level of understanding. Main issues regarding the classifications proposal are as follows: Concepts of epileptic seizure/epilepsy/syndromeFocal & generalized epilepsy conceptIdiopathic, genetic, cryptogenic, and symptomatic (structural/metabolic) concepts.