Background

Epilepsy is the 4th most prevalent neurologic disorder after migraine, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease: affecting 50 million people worldwide and 3.4 million people in the USA have epilepsy and at least 30% of all epilepsy patients are refractory to drug therapy. The prevalence of epilepsy increased since the previous estimate of 3 million people which is thought to be due to population growth. One factor which may influence the incidence of epilepsy in the near future is the expanded definition of epilepsy established by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). According to this definition, diagnosis of epilepsy requires one of the following: 1) two unprovoked seizures occurring at least 24 hours apart; 2) one unprovoked seizure with a high