Article

Epilepsy is a burden affecting no fewer than 50 million patients worldwide. It is a heterogeneous group of disorders comprising both common and very rare forms,
thus rendering its epidemiological investigations rather difficult. Moreover,
making an epilepsy diagnosis per se can be challenging due to an evolving system
of classification, and its dependency on local habits and culture. Any attempt at
meta-analyses must consider such biases when pooling data from different centers
and countries. Differentiating a contextual seizure from chronic epilepsy is
every epileptologist's daily mission, yet it is also crucial for achieving a
proper estimation of the epidemiology of epilepsy. Our present objective was to
provide an overview of the epidemiology of both syndromic and non-syndromic
epilepsy. Most epileptic syndromes tend to be rare and, thus, the feasibility of
epidemiological quantification in populations is also addressed. Regarding its
prevalence and cost, epilepsy deserves greater attention than it generally
receives, as it appears to continue to be a condition under persistent taboos.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS