onconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is defined as prolonged or recurrent electrographic seizure activity lasting more than 30 minutes without prominent motor (i.e. convulsive) clinical symptoms. There are as many types of NCSE as there are nonconvulsive epileptic seizures (Table 1). The hallmark of NCSE is an altered level of consciousness, which may range from mild confusion, inattention, o...

The book begins with a description of the physiology of consciousness and the pathophysiology of disorders of consciousness. It continues with a description of the approach to a patient with a disorder of consciousness, emphasizing the bedside examination, but including the use of modern imaging techniques. The important structural and metabolic causes of coma are reviewed in detail. It then de...

Catatonic states do not always signify a psychiatric illness and may be a manifestation of an tmderlying medical or neurological illness. To assume that a patient who presents with a catatonic disorder must have exclusively a psychiatric disorder can lead to errors in diagnosis and management. Obvious physical illnesses such as epilepsy are easy to recognize but many subtle one? give rise to di...