Epilepsy: A Comprehensive Textbook on CD-ROM

British Medical Journal, March 18, 2000 by S Wiebe

Epilepsy: A Comprehensive Textbook on CD-ROM

Eds Jerome Engel Jr, Timothy A Pedley, Jean Aicardi, Marc A Dichter, Uwe Heinemann, Solomon L Mosh, Roger J Porter, David C Taylor

Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, $379 ISBN 0 7817 1840 6

Rating: ****

Despite its antiquity, epilepsy remains an intricate clinical entity. This is reflected in the many disciplines involved in epilepsy care, ranging from allied health services to general practice, emergency intensive care, and multidisciplinary epilepsy units. Moreover, knowledge in epilepsy is changing rapidly thanks to research involving molecular genetics, diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, and patient centred outcome measures. The editors of this CD Rom have succeeded in capturing such breadth and depth of information in this electronic, revised version of its three volume, text predecessor.

Of the roughly 160 epilepsy related books published in English and aimed at health professionals, this multiauthored treatise is the most comprehensive. It is also the first to appear in electronic format, making it highly portable. Its 289 chapters are parcelled out into 12 sections. Standard topics are addressed in depth, and unique chapters deal with topics such as "co-registration," healthcare delivery, resource allocation, and many others. It is gratifying to find that most chapters are adequately supported by relevant references. These can be accessed instantly with one click of the mouse button--a pop up window shows the citations, some of them complete with Medline abstracts.

The software is easily installed, requires only 2 Mb of disc space, and runs largely from the CD. Access time was satisfactory even with a 2x (slow) CD drive. The image viewer is equipped with a zoom facility that provides good access to the many figures. Other useful features include highlighters, bookmarks, notes, and a print facility. Navigating and searching is tricky initially and requires frequent visits to the help menu. First time users are strongly advised to review the tutorial.

How does the CD work in practice? The following examples should illustrate its performance. Say you need to know about the significance of epileptiform discharges found in the electroencephalogram of a nonepileptic person. Typing "epileptiform" and "non-epileptic" in the queries box yields 26 hits. A quick glance at the entries shows a section on this topic, complete with an adequately referenced table summarising the results of the most relevant evidence. Search time: 20 seconds. Alternatively, you may need to review the role of ion channel disorders in epilepsy. Typing "channelopathies" in the search box yields five hits. One entry has seven relevant references, one with a Medline abstract that you decide to print out for closer analysis. Search time: 45 seconds, including a peek at the abstract.

Overall, this is an outstanding resource. My wish list for the next edition includes adding a good old fashioned index with hypertext links, more intuitive navigation, more Medline abstracts, enhanced graphics, and the ability to download references into a reference manager programme.

Reviews are rated on a 4 star scale (4 = excellent)

S Wiebe assistant professor in clinical neurological sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada