The new diagnostic criteria for epilepsy, which have been in place since 2014, suggest that due to the improved possibilities for early diagnosis and treatment - particularly as a result of improved imaging diagnostics - changes in the incidence rates and severity of the course of epilepsies with different etiologies can be expected.
The group of epilepsies with unclear etiology should now be smaller than in previous studies. The MRI- and EEG-positive patients can now be identified as having structural epilepsy based on the type of lesion, which was not possible in previous studies without differentiated imaging. The fact that these patients can now be treated before a patients can now be treated before a second seizure, the risk of recurrence and the health economic costs should also be reduced and have a positive effect on maintaining cognitive performance and quality of life after a first epileptic seizure.
The aim of the study is to record the consequences of the new epilepsy diagnostic criteria in terms of outcome and treatment. In addition, the investigators will use a questionnaire battery and neuropsychological testing to record the potential neuropsychological deficits, financial and socio-medical consequences of a first seizure or early-stage epilepsy.
