Epilepsy for pediatrician: tips and tricks

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological problems encounteredand managed by general practitioners, general pediatricians and pediatric neurologists. Approximately 8-10% of the population have at least oneseizure in their lifetimes, while 0.5-1% of children up to 16 years of age have epilepsy, with 60% of epilepsy cases started in childhood. An epileptic seizure is a transient occurrence of sign and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive and synchronous neuronal activity within the brain. Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizure and by the neurobiological, cognitive, psychological, and social consequences of this condition. This definition requires the occurrence of at least one episode of epileptic seizure and is usually applied as having two unprovoked seizures more than 24 hours apart.