ABSTRACT

Incidence Epilepsy affects about 0.5% of women of childbearing age and is the commonest chronic neurological disorder to complicate pregnancy.

Clinical features Epilepsy is classied according to the clinical type of seizure or specic electroencephalographic (EEG) features. Many types of epilepsy are characterized by more than one type of seizure. These may be broadly divided into

■ Primary generalized epilepsy (including tonic-clonic seizures, absences and myoclonic jerks)

■ Partial (focal) seizures with or without loss of consciousness or secondary generalisation (complex partial seizures)

Temporal lobe seizures are often associated with an aura, a duration of 1 minute or more and confusion after the event. Absences (petit mal) in contrast are normally of short duration (a few seconds), have a rapid onset, rapid recovery and are precipitated by hyperventilation. Absences are associated with 3 Hz spike and wave discharge on the EEG.