Neuropathology of epilepsy.

The neuropathology of symptomatic and idiopathic epilepsy is presented. New methods of investigation have disclosed that more cases of epilepsy are symptomatic--even hippocampal sclerosis is now detectable in vivo by MR-scan. It still remains to be defined whether hippocampal sclerosis is the cause or the effect of epilepsy. The present survey focusses upon the delineation of hippocampal neuron loss with a critical discussion of various hypotheses drawn from various human and experimental studies. In particular the phenomenon of selective and delayed neuron loss are explored with regard to future neurosurgical approaches.