Intractable Seizures, 2002 Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology Series, Vol. 497

About 20% of people with epilepsy have seizures which are resistant to anticonvulsant medications. These drug-resistant seizures are called `intractable', and the patients who have them - about 1 in 500 of the general population - present a major challenge to neurologists and epilepsy associations. The present volume describes the symptomatology of the major `intractable' syndromes, the most appropriate drugs for each, and the possibilities for surgical control. Research related to the causes and effects of unchecked seizures is presented, and new directions in prevention and therapy are discussed.

1. Intractable Epilepsy in Adults.- Complex Partial Seizures.- 2. Clinical Description and Diagnosis.- 3. Drug Therapy for Complex Partial Seizures.- 4. Surgery for Complex Partial Seizures.- West’s Syndrome (Infantile Spasms).- 5. Clinical Description and Diagnosis.- 6. Drug Therapy for West’s Syndrome.- 7. Surgery for West’s Syndrome.- Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.- 8. Clinical Description and Diagnosis.- 9. Drug Therapy in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome.- 10. Surgery in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome: Corpus Callosum Division for Children.- Special Topic.- 11. Early versus Late Surgery in Intractable Seizures.- Basic Pathophysiology—Theories and Research.- 12. Why are Complex Partial Seizures Intractable?.- 13. Pathophysiology of Infantile Spasms.- 14. Functional Properties of Human Neocortical Neurons: A Window to the Physiopathogenesis of Seizures in Patients with Cortical Dysplasia.- Effects of Unchecked Seizures—Human and Animal Studies.- 15. Psychiatric Aspects of Intractable Epilepsy.- 16. Neural Growth, Neural Damage, and Neurotrophins in the Kindling Model of Epilepsy.- 17. Effects of Uncontrolled Seizures: Neural Changes in Animal Models.- New Therapeutic Strategies.- 18. The Landau-Kleffner Syndrome.- 19. Neuroprotective Strategies in Epilepsy.- 21. Vagal Stimulation for Intractable Seizures.