KU Medical Center Continuing Education

6th Annual Symposium on
Problems in Epilepsy Care

Saturday • October 25, 2008

Hampton Inn & Suites on the Plaza 4600 Summit
Kansas City, Mo.

Sponsored by the University of Kansas Department of Neurology and University of Kansas Medical Center Continuing Education

Are you diagnosing and treating a patient with spells?
Do you know what aspects of the spells would be helpful to you in reaching a diagnosis?
Do you know what problems to look for and how to treat that disease?
Are you involved in caring for a patient with spells?
Do you know what pieces of information to report to your physician to help your physician diagnose and treat the spells?

Overview

This symposium will give an overview of the clinical signs that enable physicians to diagnose a patient's spells as epileptic seizures, enabling participants to better diagnose epileptic seizures. The differentiation of frontal lobe seizures from non-epileptic spells--conditions which have much in common, will be addressed in detail.

A discussion of diagnosis and treatment of comorbid migraine and epilepsy, including occipital epilepsy, will include optimal treatment of migraine and seizures, especially when they coexist.

Women with epilepsy have specific additional problems regarding reproductive effects both on the mother and the baby and the side effects of both antiepileptic medications and weight effects and bone health issues, which can affect all epileptic patients undergoing treatment but have special considerations for women.

Target Audience

This symposium is designed for physicians—specifically neurologists, pediatricians, family practitioners, emergency room physicians, as well as nurses and other caretakers of epileptic patients.

Objectives

At the completion of this symposium, participants should be able to:

Specify aspects of spells that suggest that the spells are epileptic seizures or some other entity.
Identify the characteristics of the different types of frontal lobe epilepsies and be able to distinguish them from other entities.
Distinguish between migraine and epilepsy and be able to effectively treat the two conditions should they occur together.
Identify the problems specific to women with epilepsy and how to treat them.