Open AccessTesting awareness in focal seizures: Clinical practice and interpretation of current guidelines
Author(s) -
Contreras Ramirez Violeta,
Vaddiparti Aparna,
Blumenfeld Hal
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
annals of clinical and translational neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.824
H-Index - 42
ISSN - 2328-9503
DOI - 10.1002/acn3.51552
Subject(s) - medicine , recall , ictal , epilepsy , consciousness , level of consciousness , psychiatry , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , anesthesia , psychology
The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) classification of focal seizures uses recall of experiences post‐ictally to assess for awareness and not ictal responsiveness to external stimuli, stating that responsiveness is often not tested. We investigated how clinicians assess for seizure awareness by administering an online survey. We found that most respondents use both responsiveness and recall to assess for awareness in the clinic (78%) and in the epilepsy monitoring unit (72%). Furthermore, 60% of respondents believe that the ILAE recommends using both measures. Given our results, we believe that using both responsiveness and recall would provide a more practical classification of impaired consciousness in focal seizures.