As a primary care physician, you may encounter patients seeking medical attention for a presumed seizure sometime after the event. How do you approach differential diagnosis and testing to ensure accurate recognition? For patients who have had a first seizure, how do you determine whether treatment is necessary or even desirable? In this article, Drs Prego-Lopez and Devinsky outline a diagnostic approach for differentiating seizure from other conditions that can mimic it and offer strategies for deciding whether and when to prescribe antiepileptic drug therapy. Prego-Lopez M, Devinsky O. Evaluations of a first seizure: Is it epilepsy?
Original Publication Date: January 2002
EVALUATION OF A FIRST SEIZURE: Is it epilepsy? Guidelines for evaluating paroxysmal events, making an accurate diagnosis, and deciding when and when not to treat. (Postgraduate Medicine)
Tags: Epilepsy, accurate recognition, accurate diagnosis, Lopez, Devinsky, differential diagnosis
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