Seizure semiology: ILAE glossary of terms and their significance
Sándor Beniczky, William O. Tatum, Hal Blumenfeld, Hermann Stefan, Jayanti Mani, Louis Maillard, Firas Fahoum, Kollencheri Puthenveettil Vinayan, Luis Carlos Mayor, Maria Vlachou, Margitta Seeck, Philippe Ryvlin, Philippe Kahane
Abstract
This educational topical review and Task Force report aims to address learning objectives of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) curriculum. We sought to extract detailed features involving semiology from video recordings and interpret semiological signs and symptoms that reflect the likely localization for focal seizures in patients with epilepsy. This glossary was developed by a working group of the ILAE Commission on Diagnostic Methods incorporating the EEG Task Force. This paper identifies commonly used terms to describe seizure semiology, provides definitions, signs and symptoms, and summarizes their clinical value in localizing and lateralizing focal seizures based on consensus in the published literature. Video-EEG examples are included to illustrate important features of semiology in patients with epilepsy.