The Argument for a More Patient Attitude Toward a Single Unprovoked Seizure: Wait for It?

Abstract

Approximately 10% of the population will experience a seizure during their lifetime, whereas only 2% to 3% will develop epilepsy.1,2 Determining whether a first seizure or recurrent seizures are provoked or unprovoked is fundamentally essential for diagnosis and treatment. Patients with provoked seizures, also known as acute symptomatic seizures (eg, electrolyte disorders, toxins, head injury, or infectious processes) do not require long-term antiseizure medication (ASM) therapy.3-5 Certainly, a seizure provoked by a reversible insult does not fall under the definition of epilepsy.