The International Classification of Epileptic Seizures
I. Partial (focal) seizures
A. Simple partial seizures (consciousness not impaired)
1. With motor signs
a. Focal motor without march
b. Focal motor with march (Jacksonian)
c. Versive
d. Postural
e. Phonatory (vocalization or arrest of speech)
2. With somatosensory or special-sensory symptoms (simple
hallucinations, e.g.,tingling, light flashes, buzzing)
a. Somatosensory
b. Visual
c. Auditory
d. Olfactory
e. Gustatory
3. With autonomic symptoms or signs (including epigastric sensation,
pallor, sweating, flushing, piloerection, and pupillary dilatation)
4. With psychic symptoms (disturbance of higher cerebral function).
a. Dysphasic
b. Dysmnesic (e.g., d‚j... vu)
c. Cognitive (e.g., dreamy states, distortions of time sense)
d. Affective (fear, anger, etc.)
e. Illusions (e.g., macropsia)
f. Structured hallucinations (e.g., music, scenes)
B. Complex partial seizures (with impairment of consciousness;
may sometimes begin with simple symptomatology)
1. Simple partial onset followed by impairment of consciousness
a. With simple partial features followed by impaired consciousness
b. With automatisms
2. With impairment of consciousness at onset
a. With impairment of consciousness only
b. With automatisms
C. Partial seizures evolving to secondarily generalized seizures
1. Simple partial seizures evolving to generalized seizures
2. Complex partial seizures evolving to generalized seizures
3. Simple partial seizures evolving to complex partial seizures evolving to generalized seizures
II. Generalized seizures
A. 1. Absence seizures
a. Impairment of consciousness only
b. With mild clonic components
c. With atonic components
d. With tonic components
e. With automatisms
f. With autonomic components
(b through f may be used alone or in combination)
2. Atypical absence May have:
a. Changes in tone that are more pronounced than in A.1
b. Onset and/or cessation that is not abrupt
B. Myoclonic seizures Myoclonic jerks (simple or multiple)
C. Clonic seizures
D. Tonic seizures
E. Tonic-clonic seizures
F. Atonic seizures (astatic)
Combinations of the above may occur, e.g., B and F, B and D.
III. Unclassified epileptic seizures