Epilepsy. 2nd Edition.
Current Medical Literature, London 2003.
by Cockerell OC.
With over 50 million persons affected worldwide, epilepsy is the most common
serious neurological disorder. The vast majority of people will have witnessed
an epileptic attack at some time in their life, and virtually anyone in the medical
profession will have had to deal, at least occasionally, with epilepsy or its
complications. Yet, no other disease is surrounded by so much prejudice and misconception,
with inadequate knowledge of diagnostic and management issues being common even
among physicians.
Dr Cockerell has an established international reputation in clinical epileptology
for his excellent work in exploring the epidemiological dimensions of the disease,
identifying the role of risk factors, and characterizing complications such as
psychological disorders and non-convulsive status epilepticus. He has to be commended
for his ability to put together, in a little more than 100 pages, including many
illustrations, an impressive amount of information on such a complex disorder.
Now in its second edition. Epilepsy: Current Concepts covers a wide range of topics
from epidemiology to clinical presentation, classification, diagnosis, and treatment,
including the role of epilepsy surgery. Advances in pathophysiology, diagnostic
tools, and treatment are highlighted. Perhaps the best indication of how the approach
to epilepsy has changed in recent years, comes from the fact that, in the chapter
on special investigations, the, Section on electroencephalography takes second
place to that on neuroimaging, and even a discussion of magnetoencephalography
is included!
As Dr Cockerell points out in the Preface, the book is aimed at non-specialists,
physicians, and other medical professionals who need to keep up to date on the
subject. Indeed, the management of. epilepsy has become so complex that a book
of this size cannot provide all the information necessary in the specialist setting,
particularly in the area of drug treatment. Nevertheless, the author has certainly
succeeded in assembling a balanced publication, which provides general information
on a comprehensive range of topics.
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Emilio Perucca, MD, PhD, FRCP (Edin)
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Professor of Clinical Pharmacology,
University of Pavia, and President,
Italian League against Epilepsy
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