Seizure

Magnetic Resonance-guided Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (MRgLITT) is an emerging minimally-invasive alternative to resective surgery for medically-intractable epilepsy. The precise lesioning effect produced by MRgLITT supplies opportunities to glean insights into epileptogenic regions and their interactions with functional brain networks. In this exploratory analysis, we sought to characterize associations between MRgLITT ablation zones and large-scale brain networks that portended seizure outcome using resting-state fMRI.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening medical emergency. Current guidelines recommend rapid stepwise treatment first using benzodiazepines in monotherapy, followed by a sequential addition of second-line drugs if SE continues [1]. Approximately one-third of cases of SE remain refractory (RSE) or super-refractory (SRSE) to treatment with benzodiazepines and second-line drugs [2,3]. RSE refers to an ongoing SE despite two appropriately selected and dosed antiepileptic drugs, including one benzodiazepine [4].

A period of military conflict is characterized by high level of stress. In this study, we examined the seizure frequency in a civilian population of patients with seizures during a period of military conflict.

Convulsive status epilepticus (SE) is a common neurological emergency that disproportionately affects young children and older adults [1–3]. SE is associated with a mortality of approximately 0-3% in children [1,4–7], 20-30% in older adults [7–9], and survivors often have neurological and cognitive deficits. Although these outcomes have been attributed to convulsive SE itself, etiology is a primary predictor of long-term outcome. The pathophysiological changes underlying SE are only partially understood [10,11], but an evaluation of the underlying pathophysiology may help ...

Stroke is a frequent cause of epilepsy in the adult and elderly population [1], accounting for 11% of all epilepsy and 55% of newly diagnosed seizures among older people [2]. However, the proportion of all incident cases of epilepsy attributable to stroke can be as high as 14-21% [3]. Based on the different risk of seizure recurrence, poststroke seizures are divided into early (within 7 days of stroke) and late (after 7 days of stroke) [4]. The overall incidence of ...

The importance of paying attention to individual stories, especially of a stigmatised condition such as epilepsy, cannot be over-emphasised. For Kleinman [1] as cited by Fadiman [2] (p. 262), “every illness is not a set of pathologies but a personal story”. This is crucial because stories enable us to gain an in-depth understanding of the individual’s lived experience of the illness and its symptoms and how the illness disrupts the individual’s life [3] (p. 52). In this article we present ...

Epilepsy surgery is a well-known method of treatment for patients with medically refractory epilepsy with a clearly defined focal onset. If a focal, radiographically identifiable lesion can be found, usually on MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), the prognosis for resection of the epileptic focus is significantly better, 60–90% free from disabling seizures, versus 20–65% if no lesion is found [1].

Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurological emergency that is estimated to affect 10-16/100000 per year in Europe [1–3] with a reported mortality rate that varies between 11-37% [4–7]. It has recently been redefined by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) as “a condition resulting either from the failure of the mechanisms responsible for seizure termination or from the initiation of mechanisms which lead to abnormally prolonged seizures (after time point t1). SE is a condition that can have long term ...

Seizures remain uncontrolled in one third of patients with focal epilepsy, despite the introduction of third-generation anti-epileptic drugs (AED) with varying modes of action [1,2]. During first-line AED treatment, about 50% of patients experience at least one adverse event [3,4]. Thus, new treatment methods are needed to improve seizure control while not affecting the patient’s quality of life by adverse effects [5]. One approach is the improvement of antiepileptic drugs with proven clinical efficacy by enhancing their pharmacodynamics potency [6].

Febrile seizures (FS), which are accompanied by a fever greater than 38 °C with no other seizure-provoking causes, are the most common type of seizure in childhood. FS are seen in children younger than 5 years of age and are classified as either simple or complex [1–3]. Simple FS are generalized (i.e., without a focal component) tonic–clonic seizures, which last for a maximum of 15 minutes. On the other hand, complex FS are prolonged (>15 minutes), focal, or occur more than once in ...