First seizures in adult patients

Abstract

First seizures in adult patients are a common problem in clinical practice, and their management represents a challenge for physicians. The aim of this review is to develop a systematic clinical approach for the classification, diagnosis and treatment of patients who have experienced a first seizure, which could help clinicians to recognize and treat this condition appropriately. Because these seizures can arise from several etiologies, it is essential to know if the event was a provoked (acute symptomatic) or an unprovoked seizure. Thus, an adequate classification is of utmost importance to establish the length of the diagnosis approach, the necessary treatment and the individual prognosis. Patients diagnosed with a single unprovoked seizure require an electroencephalogram and a brain magnetic resonance imaging to assess the risk of recurrence as well as to identify those patients who meet the diagnosis criteria for epilepsy. We recommend individualized antiepileptic drug therapy to reduce early seizure recurrence (≤ 2 years), even if it can produce some adverse effects. Finally, there are still certain areas of uncertainty to promote future research in this topic.