Basic principles of the ILAE syndrome classification

The basic principles of the ILAE syndrome classification can be summarised as: clear definitions; reference to the seizure classification; expert consensus based on literature research; providing a taxonomy rather than a diagnostic manual; use of the dichotomies generalised versus localisation-related and idiopathic versus symptomatic; openness for the incorporation of new findings; and promotion of nosological thought. In fact, the publication of the classification stimulated research, especially in the fields of genetics, reflex epileptic mechanisms and advanced imaging, which will probably lead to a major revision of the nosology of epilepsies. Both localisation-related and “generalised” idiopathic epilepsies are about to be understood as related variants of system disorders of the brain, with an ictogenesis making pathological use of existing functional anatomic networks.