Canine Focal and Absence Epileptic Syndromes

摘要

As technology evolves, ongoing attempts in human and veterinary medicine to classify and define epilepsies are resulting in much discussion about the appropriate terminology. The most recent, 2010, attempt by the International League Against Epilepsy(ILAE) is still under debate.2 For veterinary epileptology, the incentives to align terminology with that of the ILAE are the benefits of developing a naturally occurring translational model with associated improvements in understanding epileptogenesis,diagnosis, and therapeutics aiding both humans and small animals.3 As the the International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force (IVETF) acknowledges, however, there are significant differences between the current diagnostic approaches to epilepsy in humans and small animal patients that curtail how closely comparisons might be made between syndromes and species.4 And while the theoretical definitions may be similar, the reality of veterinary medicine is that it is hard to distinguish focal from generalized absence seizures or other transient paroxysmal events.4,5 Furthermore, despite thorough descriptions of hereditary breed-specific epilepsies in dogs, few genes have been identified.6"9 Better clarification of epileptic phenotypes might be helpful in thisgenetic hunt. Better stratification of epileptic phenotypes might also improve treatment of, and prognostication for, canine epileptics, currently challenging as approximately one third of patients respond to the first line antiepileptic drug (AED).