Epilepsy and Related Disorders

Epilepsy is the propensity of an individual to have unprovoked seizures due to an underlying neurological or somatic condition, associated with a range of comorbidities and premature mortality. Establishing the epidemiological characteristics of a symptom complex such as epilepsy is complicated due to several methodological issues, including problems over definitions, attributions in a field of high comorbidity, concealment and potential for selection bias. A risk factor is a variable associated with increased disease risk. MRI is the primary imaging modality for people with epilepsy. Indications for MRI include a focal epilepsy syndrome, a focal neurological deficit, failure to respond to first-line ASMs and changes in seizure pattern or seizure recurrence after a period of seizure freedom. Neuropsychological difficulties are significant in epilepsy, encompassing cognitive and affective problems, and have multifactorial aetiologies.