Epilepsy

The WHO defines to the epilepsy like a chronic affection, of diverse etiología, characterized by recurrent crises due to an excessive unloading of the cerebral neurons. (THAT DIFFICULT). Simply that means that the epilepsy is a symptom of a fundamental neurological disfunción in the brain.

Diagnosis differential (whereupon diseases me I do not have it to confuse):

Other pathologies that can cause convulsions or attacks exist that appear in form of slight or severe tremors since this suffering also can be presented/displayed in secondary form to other diseases like: moquillo, cerebral tumors, fail cardiac hepática or, cranenos diabetes, traumas, hipocalcenia or exhibition to toxic substances, etc?

Fisiopatología (because and as they happen):

Several factors exist that prearrange to the appearance of a epiléptico attack:

• Genetic predisposition, or factors of age-sex conditioners.
• General metabolic imbalance that reduces the convulsive threshold (hipoglucemia, fails renal, overloads hydric during estro).
• Resulting acquired focal cerebral injury of encefalitis, healings or masses occupants of the space).
• Factor ?trigger?: Sueño or emotional Stress

The epilepsy can be to have several types of classifications:

• Etiológico:
  True - idiopática - hereditary
  (I am going to use this) Acquired - nonhereditary.

• Semiológico:
  - partial the epilépticas crises
  - the generalized epilépticas crises
• Sindromática focal
  - Generalized
  - Special

The knowledge of the differences will be able to orient the prognosis and use of certain pure races for the reproduction, knowing the incidence in some them.

The true epilepsy appears frequently in certain pure races, and is rare to observe it in racially mixed animals. The races in which conmayor is observed frequency are Beagles, Shepherds German, koeshonds and Irish Setter. Other susceptible races, but in smaller frequency are poodle miniature, Golden retrievers, Husky Siberian, Fox Terrier hard hair, Cocker Spaniels and San Bernardo.
The convulsions in this type of epilepsy must specially to a biochemical effect of the cortical neurons or in groups of subcortical neurons, that produce spontaneous unloadings periodically.

The acquired epilepsy is of frequent incidence, and can, in most of the cases, being result of a cerebral damage (inflammatory processes pasts, traumas, poisonous effects or metabolic. This type of epilepsy can happen in almost all the dogs and expenses, of racially mixed pure races or

Components of a epiléptico attack:	DAWN
	ICTUS
	POSTICTUS

.

• DAWN: It is the first set of signs that precede or announce a epiléptico attack. It can last from seconds, hours or days (rare). The animal presents/displays a fixed glance, gets wet the lips, contorsiona, worries itself and tends to hide, to vagar or to show more affection by its master. reason why many proprietors do not notice themselves with clarity of them.
• ICTUS: Real crisis. Hard of seconds to several minutes, and it can be generalized, partial and nonmotor. During this episode, the dog commonly falls demolished on a flank and is a serious involuntary motor answer showed by movements of kicks, pedaleo or oar. The dog will produce an excessive salivation and can lose the control on its sphincters anal and urinary. All these acts are unconscious reason why the animal loses relation with environment.
• POSTICTUS: Third it is ?the postictal? stage that is characterized by a period of confusion, disorientation, excessive salivation, restlessness, lack of reliable answer in relation to the environmental stimuli and in some cases blindness.

Interictal phase: It is the period between the crises, that lasts between seconds to months, and can be a time of slight normal or anomalous behavior to serious.

Epiléptico status: They are crises that appear meetings and that do not have period of normality among them.

I DIAGNOSE AND TREATMENT (of the hand never separated)

Before initiating the medicamentoso treatment, the doctor must ask itself if he is as opposed to a case of idiopática epilepsy or if the crises are secondary to another affection (in this case to discard them podra to resort to blood analysis for example). The idiopática epilepsy is more frequent between the ages of 2 to 3 years, whereas the secondary ones are it before and after these ages; in addition, these have a high probability of being focal. The focalidad can be clinical and therefore deductible of the anamnesis because it includes the dawn, but can be only electroencefalográfica.

EEG (Electroencefalograma) is an examination that allows to register the electrical activity that takes place partly of the cerebral crust; it constitutes the examination of more useful laboratory to support the epilepsy diagnosis and to classify the type of crisis. Since we have mentioned previously, the differentiation between the different sub-groups from epilépticas crises allows to select the anticonvulsivante that has more probability of controlling the type of crisis by means of a monotherapy, fundamental aspect in the present therapy.

Eye! The treatment of the epilepsy is only for controlling the attacks, more does not stop to cure completely to animal.el objective is to improve its quality of life In case of dogs of great races, the prognosis more is reserved and poor, and in some cases the animal, instead of improving with the anticonvulsive therapy, gets worse and the attacks become more frequent.

Bibliography

Author: MV Adelaida A. Goldman

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