L’epilessia del cane: un moderno approccio clinico e terapeutico parte I: definizione, classificazione, patogenesi, approccio clinico

Epilepsy is currently considered most common chronic neurological disease in dogs, requiring a thorough and fruitful life-long interaction between the owner and the veterinarian. An epileptic seizure is defined as a transient occurrence of signs due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Epilepsy has been defined as an enduring disorder of the brain that is characterized by recurrent seizures. Epileptic seizures are classified according to the frequency, the clinical presentation and the aetiology. Human medicine classifies epilepsy as genetic, structural/metabolic and of unknown origin. In veterinary medicine, Epilepsy is traditionally classified in Idiopathic (or primary), Secondary (or symptomatic) and Cryptogenic. The diagnosis of Idiopathic Epilepsy is still “per exclusion”. The interictal neurological examination of the patient affected by Idiopathic Epilepsy is normal and the diagnostic procedures have to exclude all the possible pathologies.