Intractable Seizures: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, 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. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Intractable Epilepsy in Adults....Pages 1-7 Complex Partial Seizures....Pages 9-18 Drug Therapy for Complex Partial Seizures....Pages 19-26 Surgery for Complex Partial Seizures....Pages 27-32 West’s Syndrome (Infantile Spasms)....Pages 33-50 Drug Therapy for West’s Syndrome....Pages 51-56 Surgery for West’s Syndrome....Pages 57-59 Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome....Pages 61-75 Drug Therapy in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome....Pages 77-86 Surgery in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Corpus Callosum Division for Children....Pages 87-98 Early Versus Late Surgery for Intractable Seizures....Pages 99-105 Why are Complex Partial Seizures Intractable?....Pages 107-110 Pathophysiology of Infantile Spasms....Pages 111-121 Functional Properties of Human Neocortical Neurons....Pages 123-132 Psychiatric Aspects of Intractable Epilepsy....Pages 133-147 Neural Growth, Neural Damage and Neurotrophins in the Kindling Model of Epilepsy....Pages 149-170 Effects of Uncontrolled Seizures....Pages 171-194 The Landau-Kleffner Syndrome....Pages 195-208 Neuroprotective Strategies in Epilepsy....Pages 209-224 The Ketogenic Diet....Pages 225-231 Vagal Stimulation for Intractable Seizures....Pages 233-239 Back Matter....Pages 241-248