Seizure

Comorbid epilepsy is found in 22.5% of people with ID, a prevalence positively correlated with severity of ID [1,2]. The link between behavioural disturbance in people with ID and epilepsy is complex and poorly understood [3,4]. There is a paucity of research [5,6]. Seizures themselves are often more complex and subtle than in the general population [7], leading to higher rates of misdiagnosis [8,3]. Reliance on informants is another possible source of uncertainty [9]. The confidential inquiry into premature deaths ...

South Sudan is amongst the highly endemic countries for onchocerciasis in Africa, with the disease endemic in around half (49%) the country (1). The most highly endemic foci of onchocerciasis in South Sudan are in Western Equatoria, and Northern and Western Bahr el Ghazal regions. However, in 2006 only 26% of the eligible population received ivermectin in five community directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTi) targeted areas (2) (Fig. 1).

The reported risk of developing post-encephalitic/encephalopathic epilepsy (PEE) in patients who had acute encephalitis/encephalopathy was 6.8% and 16.4% [1,2]. Previous studies have shown that PEE accounts for 5.5% and 10.4% of patients with intractable epilepsy [3,4]. PEE is recognized as drug-resistant epilepsy, and patients with PEE are often affected by adverse effects related to poly-pharmaceutical therapy. We previously reported that sleepiness as an adverse effect of antiepileptic drugs might be causally related to prolonged blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction in patients ...

The “National Epilepsy 12 Audit” aimed to measure and improve the quality of care provided by the National Health Service (NHS) to children and young people with seizures and epilepsies in the United Kingdom (UK) [1]. The audit was co-ordinated by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in partnership with Epilepsy Action and the British Paediatric Neurology Association, and includes paediatric departments which see children aged 1 month to 16 years with suspected or diagnosed epilepsies [1].

Post-hypoxic myoclonus (PHM), a common consequence of cardiac arrest and anoxic brain injury, is broadly divided into the entities of myoclonic status epilepticus (MSE) and Lance-Adams syndrome (LAS) [1]. MSE and LAS are differentiated on the grounds of clinical and electroencephalographic (EEG) findings, with distinction between the two entities carrying important prognostic information. Here we report a unique case of PHM where our patient defied classification into either MSE or LAS, but whose PHM was instead a continuous myoclonic seizure ...

Visual field defects (VFD), typically homonymous superior quadrantanopsias, commonly occur after temporal lobe resections for patients with medically intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). The frequency of VFD after open resection ranges from 9 – 100% [1–3]. Techniques that may limit surgical volumes may prevent VFD. Nilsson et al. found that more restricted resections that spared the superior-most aspect of the superior temporal gyrus yielded less VFD [4]. Mengesha et al. found that the horizontal meridian of visual fields tended ...

Epilepsy, characterized by spontaneous and recurrent seizures, currently affects 1% of the world population [1]. Despite many available therapeutic options, 1/3 of patients do not achieve seizure control [2]. Thus, searching for new and effective anti-epileptic drugs remains a central theme of epilepsy research. Among the many different candidates for drug development, the progesterone family emerges as a potential therapeutic option.

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is one of the most severe epileptic encephalopathies with childhood onset. It is characterized by the presence of (i) multiple, untreatable seizure types, including tonic seizures, atypical absences and tonic or atonic drop attacks, and (ii) electroencephalographic (EEG) abnormalities, consisting of interictal pattern of slow-spike waves (SSW) <3 Hz, and paroxysmal fast rhythms (10-20 Hz), mainly during non-REM sleep [1]. At the onset of the disorder, not all the different seizure types can be present [2].

Long-term video-EEG monitoring in the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) is the gold standard for the diagnosis, classification and localization of epileptic seizures. [1] Specific EEG epileptiform discharges allow better informed decisions regarding medical and surgical treatments and more accurate prediction of seizure control and ultimate remission. An epileptiform discharge is predictive of seizure recurrence, particularly in patients with idiopathic epilepsy [2]. EMU study has resulted in establishing a definitive diagnosis in 76% to 88% of patients and changing in diagnosis ...

We present the case of a 67-year-old woman affected by hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. She had a history of alcoholism, anxiety disorder with panic attacks, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Despite a previous transient ischemic attack and her thromboembolic risk (CHA2DS2-VASc score: 5), she had not been taking anticoagulants at home without a reasonable motivation. Moreover, around eighteen years prior, she had breast cancer and underwent surgical intervention, radiotherapy and several years of hormone-therapy.