Epidemiology of Epilepsy

The term epilepsy identifies a group of disorders characterized by the recurrence of two or more epileptic seizures, unprovoked by any immediate identified cause [1]. An epileptic seizure is the clinical manifestation due to an abnormal and excessive discharge of a set of neurons in the brain [1]. The clinical manifestations consist of sudden and transitory abnormal phenomena, which may include alterations of consciousness, motor, sensory, autonomic, or psychic events perceived by the patient or an observer [1]. A seizure can be of partial or generalized onset, according to its clinical manifestation, and provoked or unprovoked, according to the temporal proximity to a precipitating event.