| Contents |
| 1: Introduction |
| Incidence of epilepsy, definitions, terminology,
symptoms, diagnosis |
| 2: Causes of Seizures |
| Covers the variety of causes e.g. infection, birth
& perinatal damage, metabolic disturbances, genetic causes, head
trauma, tumour, drugs, vascular insults, congenital malformations,
febrile convulsions in children, neurodegenerative disease |
| 3: Classification of Seizures |
| Main features and symptoms of partial
(simple and complex) and generalised seizures (tonic-clonic, absence,
atonic and myoclonic) |
| 4: Seizure Mechanisms |
| Describes the underlying mechanisms and factors
contributing to initiation, synchronization and propagation of the
abnormal neural discharge, |
| 5: Screening for potential anti-seizure drugs |
| Describes the major tests: MES, PTZ and kindling
and indicates their usefulness in predicting efficacy of tested drugs
against different seizure types, |
| 6: Anti-seizure drugs |
| Focuses on the structure, clinical usefulness,
mechanism of action and important clinical pharmacology of
phenytoin, carbamazepine, valproate and ethosuximide |
| 7: Status Epilepticus |
| Describes the main clinical features and treatment
of this condition |