A disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of paroxysmal
brain dysfunction due to a sudden, disorderly, and excessive neuronal discharge.
epilepsy classification systems are generally based upon: (1) clinical features of the seizure episodes (e.g., motor seizure), (2) etiology (e.g., post-traumatic), (3) anatomic site of seizure origin (e.g.,
frontal lobe seizure), (4) tendency to spread to other structures in the
brain, and (5) temporal patterns (e.g., nocturnal
epilepsy). (From Adams et al., Principles of
neurology, 6th ed, p313)