It is rewarding that the second edition of A Clinical Guide to Epileptic Syndromes and their Treatment published in 2007 appears to be fulfilling its purpose as a concise book promoting the accurate diagnosis and appropriate management of epilepsies. Like its predecessor, it has received excellent reviews and has been widely used and cited by readers, including seasoned and novice physicians, and other healthcare professionals, as well as patients and their families.
With the first print run now sold out, I felt that the time was ripe to revise rather than to reprint the second edition. This is mandated by the need to update with information on emerging therapies, important recent publications and new guidelines and ILAE proposals.
This book is mainly based on the ILAE classifications and practice parameter guidelines. A new ILAE report on classification and terminology that is currently under consultation is an important document for consideration and reflection as it contains the thoughts of the leading authorities in the epilepsies. Regarding practice parameters, the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society have published a three part evidence-based review focusing on pregnancy in women with epilepsy. These new proposals and guidelines are discussed extensively in this revision.
The sections concerning therapy have been expanded to include newly licensed AEDs, new indications for previously approved drugs and adverse reactions that have emerged since the first publication. Again, the recommendations made aim to be of practical use and to follow as truly as possible the principles of evidence-based medicine.
New sections have been added on the principles of pharmacological management in women and the elderly, and on psychological, behavioural and cardiac adverse effects of AEDs. The recent ILAE position paper on therapeutic drug monitoring is also extensively covered.
This revision has also been updated to include significant advances, reports, reviews and debates;new citations up to a few weeks before publication have been added.
The goal of this book, as with all previous editions, is to encourage the accurate syndromic diagnosis of the epilepsies. To some extent this has now been achieved, as all current formal recommendations and guidelines make clear that a syndromic diagnosis is a prerequisite for appropriate management and good clinical practice. However, there are still uncertainties over the precise features and boundaries for each epileptic syndrome and a lack of terminological precision, which this revised edition addresses.
Overall, this book remains a guide for practising physicians on how best to diagnose the epileptic syndromes and achieve optimal management.
Contents
- 1 General aspects of epilepsies
- 2 Epileptic seizures and their classification
- 3 Status epilepticus
- 4 Imitators of epileptic seizures
- 5 Epileptic syndromes and their classification
- 6 EEG and brain imaging
- 7 Principles of therapy in the epilepsies
- 8 Neonatal epileptic seizures and neonatal epileptic syndromes
- 9 Idiopathic epileptic seizures and syndromes in infancy
- 10 Epileptic encephalopathies in infancy and early childhood
- 11 Severe neocortical epileptic syndromes in infancy and childhood
- 12 Benign childhood focal seizures and related epileptic syndromes
- 13 Idiopathic generalised epilepsies
- 14 Familial (autosomal dominant) focal epilepsies
- 15 Symptomatic and cryptogenic (probably symptomatic) focal epilepsies
- 16 Reflex seizures and related epileptic syndromes
- 17 Diseases frequently associated with epileptic seizures4
- 18 Pharmacopoeia
- Index
About the Author
Chrysostomos Panayiotopoulos is an internationally renowned leader and expert in the field of neurology. He has worked for over 15 years as a Consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsies at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London, UK. In addition to this, he holds several honorary titles including Honorary Senior Lecturer at Guys, Kings and St. Thomas’ Medical school, Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Epileptology at Guy’s Department of Paediatric Neurology, London. He has also been an invited professor to Harvard University and the University of Western Australia, where he was appointed Honorary Director of the Department of Neuropathology.
Dr. Panayiotopoulos has researched prolifically, investigating the clinical and neurophysiological investigations of the muscles, peripheral and central nervous system, with a particular focus on epilepsy. Moreover he has successfully secured more than a quarter of a million pounds of research funding.
Dr Panayiotopoulos has been an active contributor to a number of highly established peer-reviewed journals. He has written over 136 articles in English, in journals such as the Lancet, Brain, Neurology, Annals of Neurology and Archives of Neurology to name but a few. These papers have been cited more than 1000 times in leading journals such as the Lancet, Nature, Neurology and Muscle and Nerve. He has also published over 50 articles in Greek. He has been the invited author of over 44 chapters in neurology books. He has also sat on the editorial board of "Annals of Saudi Medicine" and acted as a reviewer for: "Brain", "Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry", "Muscle and Nerve", "Epilepsia", "Lupus", "Journal of Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology", "Epilepsy Research", and "Seizure".
Moreover his work on establishing the syndromic diagnosis of epilepsies and the appropriate video-EEG methodology for their diagnosis, has been regarded by some as ground breaking and he is recognised as one the leading authorities on epilepsy. He was appointed as one of the 12 members of the Commission on Classification and Terminology of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and subsequently as a key advisory member.
Dr. Panayiotopoulos is now Consultant emeritus in the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsies at St. Thomas’ hospital, London and also has a consultancy with USB pharma, Brussels, Belgium. He is married with two children.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 592 pages
- Publisher: Springer; 2nd ed. 2007. 2nd revised edition (March 5, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1849961603
- ISBN-13: 978-1849961608
- Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.7 x 1.7 inches
List Price: $129.00