[Diagnosis and certification of the ability of epileptic patients to drive motor vehicles: cases consulted by the author].

Epilepsy is a frequent diagnostic problem. It is also difficult to certify whether an epileptic patient is able to drive a motor vehicle. With the advent of efficient anti-epileptic treatment, a general practice of refusing epileptic patients driving license should be seriously reconsidered. However, the matter should be given careful consideration not to jeopardize public safety and patients' rights. The aim of the study was to highlight the problems encountered in rediagnosing and certifying people with diagnosed epilepsy or pseudoepileptic seizures. The authors discuss the diagnosis and certification procedures in persons with epileptic seizures after severe craniocerebral trauma. They also analyze a case of diagnosed epilepsy suggesting the syncope in a patient with cardiac defect; a case of psychogenous pseudoepileptic seizures and the course of the disease in a patient with febrile convulsions in childhood. The problems result from the fact that reliable medical histories are not available and thus the retroassessment of the clinical picture of epileptic seizures is not possible. Missing results of timely laboratory tests (EEG, ECG) and diagnostic errors concerning earlier episodes, especially epilepsy diagnosed inconsiderately, are additional obstacles.