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Previous Volume 349:1257-1266 September 25, 2003 Number 13 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Epilepsy is one of the most common neurologic problems worldwide. Approximately 2 million persons in the United States have epilepsy, and 3 percent of persons in the general population will have epilepsy at some point in their lives.¹ In recent years, important advances have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of seizure disorders.² However, our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which epilepsy develops, or epileptogenesis, is still incomplete.

In this overview, we highlight some of the prevailing ideas about epileptogenesis by presenting examples of epilepsy syndromes and theories of their mechanisms of origin. Several recent reviews . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Classification of Epilepsy

Mechanisms of Generalized Epilepsies

Absence Epilepsy

Generalized Epilepsies Associated with Ion-Channel Mutations

Unanswered Questions

Mechanisms of Partial Epilepsies

Mesial Temporal-Lobe Epilepsy

Unanswered Questions

Newer Areas of Research

Cortical Malformations

The Role of Glial Cells

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School — both in Boston (B.S.C.); and the University of California San Francisco Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (D.H.L.).

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