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The more seizures occur, the less likely they are to be controlled. Immediate treatment is associated with lower rates of seizure recurrence and longer time to seizure recurrence than deferred treatment in patients with epilepsy, especially in those who had experienced two or more unprovoked seizures at diagnosis.

The figure summarizes how epilepsy affects individuals throughout their life course. The review of the long-term outcomes for patients receiving treatment for epilepsy concluded that for the vast majority of people with new-onset epilepsy, the outlook is very good.

The figure summarizes factors associated with drug-resistant epilepsy reported as statistically significant in multiple studies.

The image shows the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (FCN) criteria for epileptiform discharge, based on identification of ≥4 of the 6 criteria.

Epileptogenesis is the process by which the brain develops epilepsy, often divided into:
Acute injury, a latent period (lasting months or sometimes years) and spontaneous seizures.

Multiple disease mechanisms underpinned by genetic mutations have been implicated in the development of epilepsy. Variation in phenotype of genetic epilepsy can be driven by changes at the gene level, within the neuron, or across networks of neurons.