What Is Refractory Epilepsy?
Refractory epilepsy is a seizure disorder that resists drug treatment. There is some debate among clinicians and researchers about how to define refractory epilepsy. As a result, this term is used in a variety of ways, and when a patient’s epilepsy is described as refractory, resistant, or nonresponsive, it can be advisable to ask for more detail about what the diagnosis means. This will help the patient understand the conclusions being drawn by a care provider. Seizures are not uncommon in the general population. People may experience a single seizure once and never again, especially in early childhood. In other people, seizures develop into epilepsy, a disorder that has a number of forms. Epilepsy is classified by the types of seizures the person experiences and it can also be classified by how well it responds to treatment.
