[Absences and absence-like crises]

Under the same clinical picture the "absence" may group various forms of epileptic and non-epileptic disease entities, each having a different pathogenesis and a different EEG correlate. The investigative procedures, therapy and prognosis are likewise non-uniform. This suggests the need for a nomenclatorial division for these different nosological units and their classification into typical and atypical absences, absence-like partial (focal) fits, and paroxysmal nonepileptic disturbances of consciousness.