title: Epilepsy: new advances.
abstract: Epilepsy affects 65 million people worldwide and entails a major burden in seizure-related disability, mortality, comorbidities, stigma, and costs. In the past decade, important advances have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease and factors affecting its prognosis. These advances have translated into new conceptual and operational definitions of epilepsy in addition to revised criteria and terminology for its diagnosis and classification. Although the number of available antiepileptic drugs has increased substantially during the past 20 years, about a third of patients remain resistant to medical treatment. Despite improved effectiveness of surgical procedures, with more than half of operated patients achieving long-term freedom from seizures, epilepsy surgery is still done in a small subset of drug-resistant patients. The lives of most people with epilepsy continue to be adversely affected by gaps in knowledge, diagnosis, treatment, advocacy, education, legislation, and research. Concerted actions to address these challenges are urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Saul R Korey Department of Neurology, Dominick P Purpura Department of Neuroscience and Department of Pediatrics, Laboratory of Developmental Epilepsy, Montefiore/Einstein Epilepsy Management Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Solomon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Moshé
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pavia, and C Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia, Italy. Electronic address: perucca@unipv.it.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perucca
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Neurology and Epileptology and IDEE, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon's Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM U1028, CNRS 5292, Lyon, France; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ryvlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Torbjörn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomson
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D011379:Prognosis; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants