The epileptology of William Aldren Turner

The evolution of the concepts of seizures and epilepsy: What's in a name?

This review aims to highlight the historical hallmarks in the development of the concepts of seizures and epilepsy. It begins with a discussion of seizure semiology and terminology, followed by the pathophysiology of seizures. We then discuss the definition of epilepsy, its etiologies, and ultimately classification schemes. Each section starts with our current views and subsequently transports the reader back in time to understand how these views evolved and came to be what they are today. People living as early as in the prehistoric times may have been aware of the existence of seizures, and descriptions and terminology have been provided as early as 2500 BC. While names have been revised and updated through time, the meanings are seemingly unchanged. However, it is clearly evident that we have come a long way in understanding the pathophysiology and etiology of seizures and epilepsy, thus leading to our current classification schemes. No classification scheme will be perfect yet, until our understanding is advanced enough to create one based predominantly on scientific grounds. The goal is that it is relevant to clinical practice, leading to a more precise diagnosis to guide targeted treatments.

The evolution of epilepsy theory and practice at the National Hospital for the Relief and Cure of Epilepsy, Queen Square between 1860 and 1910

In the years between 1860 and 1910, a revolution in epilepsy theory and practice occurred. The National Hospital for the Relief and Cure of the Paralysed and the Epileptic at Queen Square in London was at the center of this revolution. A series of remarkable physicians and surgeons were appointed to the staff. The four greatest were John Hughlings Jackson, Sir David Ferrier, Sir Victor Horsley, and Sir William Gowers. Their lasting contribution to epilepsy is discussed. Other physicians who made notable contributions to epilepsy were Jabez Spence Ramskill, Charles Eduard Brown-Séquard, Charles Bland Radcliffe, Sir John Russell Reynolds, Sir Edward Henry Sieveking, Walter Stacy Colman, and William Aldren Turner. At the hospital in this period, amongst the lasting contributions to epilepsy were the following: the development of a new conceptual basis of epilepsy, the development of a theory of the physiological structure of the nervous system in relation to epilepsy, the demonstration and investigation of cortical localization of epileptic activity, the establishment of the principle of focal epilepsy and the description of focal seizure types, the discovery of the first effective drug treatment for epilepsy (bromide therapy, indeed one of the first effective drug treatments in the whole of neurology), and the performance of the first surgical operation for epilepsy. This paper is based on the 2013 Gowers Memorial Lecture, delivered in May 2013.