TREATMENT OF CHILDHOOD EPILEPSY

Epilepsy in children is frequently misdiagnosed and inappropriately ma naged with major medical, social, and educational consequences. The ad vent of the newer anti-epileptic drugs has paradoxically, and in contr ast to what was expected, contributed to a therapeutic confusion, whic h in certain instances, has perpetuated this unsatisfactory management . The purpose of this paper is to address some of the diagnostic and m anagement issues and outline drug regimens for specific seizure types and epilepsy syndromes. Alternative and surgical therapies, and the tr eatment of neonatal and 'febrile seizures' and status epilepticus will not be discussed in detail, as these particular aspects fall outside the remit of this paper.