Vol. 4, Issue 1, Part A (2022)

Epilepsy is a commonly encountered neurological condition characterised by recurrent episodes of unprovoked seizures. Epilepsy acts as a broad terminology that includes any abnormal mechanism in brain which cause an electrical short circuit or electrical storm that manifests as seizure1. Epilepsy affects both adults and children. Epileptic seizures can occur with wide variation in presentation and to provide effective appropriate treatment, systematic precise classification of epilepsy is mandatory. Seizures are mainly divided into partial and generalized seizures, but some are unclassified. The common definition of catamenial epilepsy is, “the seizure clusters occurring around menstrual cycle or an increased seizure frequency during certain phases of menstrual cycle”. Some female sex hormones and certain steroid gonadal hormones have neuroactive properties that can trigger seizures. Though there are many subtypes in catamenial epilepsy, neurosteroids have been found to influence the seizure clusters in women who have normal 28 day menstrual cycles who suffer during the perimenstrual period. It is thought that progesterone derived neurosteroids withdrawal causes enhanced stimulation or excitability of cerebral cortex which predispose to seizures. Varied concentrations of anticonvulsants during the different phases of menstrual cycle also because increased seizure susceptibility.