Handbook of Epilepsy Treatment - Softcover

Shorvon, Simon D.

9780632048496: Handbook of Epilepsy Treatment

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0632048492 ISBN 13: 9780632048496

Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell, 2000

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Review:

The modern explosion of knowledge in neurology has influenced the study and treatment of no disorder more than epilepsy. When I was in medical training, one could easily count on one hand all of the major drugs used to treat seizures.

Today, with the development of so many new antiepileptics, it is no longer feasible even to list all of these drugs on one slide. Such a vast amount of new information makes it particularly important for the practitioner, either the specialist or the generalist, to have access to a handy, up–to–date reference on epilepsy treatment. The delightful new handbook by Simon Shorvan provides just such a resource. This is an excellent, well–written, and practical handbook for the comprehensive treatment of epilepsy in both adults and children by one of the leading figures in clinical epilepsy today. In his Handbook of Epilepsy Treatment, Shorvon personally distills considerable information and knowledge from a much larger, multiauthored, comprehensive reference work that he coedited. His new book is concise (at just under 250 pages), easy to read, and nicely supplemented with tables, graphs, and illustrations. It succeeds in conveying the current state of epilepsy treatment, at the beginning of the twentyfirst century, in a comfortably accessible format.

Shorvon provides objective, evidence–based information and balances his stylish narrative with personal advice. The practices he promotes reflect the first–class epilepsy care provided at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square, London, with which he is most familiar. He effectively blends his own personal views with the enormous amount of (sometimes confusing and even conflicting) data available in the medical literature. The book begins with a section on basics, such as the diagnosis and classification of epilepsy. It then reviews the acquired, hereditary, and genetic causes of epilepsy before turning to the major focus of the book, treatment. All aspects of treatment, including antiepileptic drug therapy, management of status epilepticus, and epilepsy surgery, are covered in suitable detail. Summary tables and graphs effectively complement the detailed text and allow the reader to se the book as a quick reference or a study guide.

The section on antiepileptic drug therapy is particularly comprehensive and international in perspective. It starts with the general principles of drug therapy, including the basics of antiepileptic drug metabolism, use of blood drug concentrations expected epilepsy syndrome specific outcomes, and discontinuation of treatment. Each of the major antiepileptic drugs is then discussed in a separate chapter with specific recommendations on use and potential side effects. A useful outline precedes each section. At the end of the section on drug therapy and at the end of the book, a series of informative tables offers comparisons of various drugs, both old and new, emphasizing principal indications, main advantages and disadvantages, significant interactions, and major side effects. The section on emergency treatment of seizures gives valuable information on the management of acute and serial seizures and contains an outstanding chapter on status epilepticus in all its varied forms. Surgical treatment is similarly well covered, with emphasis on key issues such as when it is appropriate to consider this option and how to determine which patients are the best candidates. The various diagnostic tests required for determining whether patients are candidates for surgery and which surgical options are optimal are discussed with clarity.

This stylishly written book serves its purpose admirably. It is a superb handbook that will be of immediate value as a reference or review on the treatment of epilepsy for the general neurologist as well as for the experienced epileptologist. It well merits consideration for inclusion in your own personal library.

Annals of Neurology Vol 50 No 1 July 2001 131

From the Back Cover:

The rate of progress in the understanding and treatment of epilepsy ahs been prodigious in recent years. Intensive scientific and clinical research has yielded much in the way of new drugs, new investigations and novel surgical approaches to this chronic condition.

Broadly based on the acclaimed The Treatment of Epilepsy, a comprehensive reference book for the specialist, the Handbook of Epilepsy Treatment is a concise and practical account of the subject which presents the very latest advances in the treatment of this condition. It emphasizes practical, clinical management and decision making rather than the more technical aspects of the underlyinmg science to fulfil its purpose as a working book for the day–to–day managemnt of patients. It is liberally illustrated with tables, diagrams and flowcharts as well as an ′at a glance′ pharmacopoeia of both established and novel anti–epileptic drugs.

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