title: The natural history of epilepsy in the era of new antiepileptic drugs and surgical treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the factors influencing prognosis of epilepsy in this era of antiepileptic drugs and surgical treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review of peer-reviewed literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prognosis depends on many factors; aetiology, age of onset, number of seizures at onset, the natural history of the condition, and the influence of treatment. However, between 70 and 80% of people developing epilepsy will go into long-term remission, usually within the first 5 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prognosis in epilepsy is the prospect of attaining complete seizure freedom once a pattern of recurrent epileptic seizures has been established. Well-designed prospective cohort studies using standard outcome measures need to be conducted, especially in non-Western cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sander
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants