Seizure

Afebrile seizure is a common complaint in the pediatric emergency room [1–2]. Children with first afebrile seizure may undergo neuroimaging [computed tomography (CT) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] to evaluate intracranial abnormalities that could cause seizure. CT abnormalities are found in about 2%–21% of children with first afebrile seizure, and either CT or MRI show abnormalities in about 8%–33% [3–10]. Among them, intracranial abnormality related to acute management is observed in 1%–8% of cases [7–9].

Epilepsy is a common neurological disease, which affects approximately 3.9–5.1% of children in China [1]. Antiseizure medication (ASM) is effective in most patients; however, some patients develop drug-resistant epilepsy. A meta-analysis evaluated that approximately 15–30% patients with epilepsy would progress to drug-resistant epilepsy [2]. Drug-resistant epilepsy can result in cognitive and behavioural problems, autism, poor quality of life, and an increased risk of death [3]. The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet which also provides adequate amounts of ...

Early seizure onset, clustered seizures and delayed development in both males and females were early clinical markers in most patients with CSNK2B mutations. The entity of neurodevelopmental abnormalities was related to epilepsy severity. Prospective studies are required to better assess the relationship between epilepsy and developmental outcomes in this condition.

To evaluate the current trends and factors associated with the first anti-seizure medications (ASMs) prescribed for epilepsy in Taiwan.

In the first of this two-article series, we have argued that excessive shame proneness and the dysregulation of shame may be a particularly common emotional link between psychiatric “comorbidities” and PNES [1]. We have also demonstrated how shame may trigger PNES and how shame (its avoidance or secondary emotions aroused by shame) could contribute to how the episodes present. Shame can also be relevant for patients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior in the interictal state. This means that shame may also ...

An emotion is the subjective experience of a mental state that directs our attention, guides our actions and is often accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes [1–3]. Traditional ideas of conversion and dissociation and more recent explanatory models based on emotion processing have linked Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures (PNES) closely with emotions [4]. In support of these theories, experimental studies have demonstrated abnormalities of emotion sensitivity, intensity, perception, tolerance, regulation and baseline arousal when comparing patients with PNES to those with ...

It has caused me the greatest trouble, and for ever causes me the greatest trouble, to perceive that unspeakably more depends upon what things are called, than on what they are.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft, Book II, section 581(p97)

Management of women with epilepsy (WWE) during pregnancy requires balancing the risk of seizure recurrence against the adverse effect of anti-epileptic drugs (AED) on the women and foetus. The risk of major congenital malformations (MCMs) is relatively higher in AED exposed women (4% – 9%) as compared to the rate in the general population of women in the reproductive age in the United Kingdom (2.13%)[1] and other high income countries. . Hospital based MCM rate for unselected pregnancies in urban ...

The GABA receptor is an important epilepsy-associated candidate gene, and has always been a focus in etiology and in the treatment of epilepsy. This study explores the genetic association between GABA receptor gene polymorphisms and epilepsy in a cohort of the Pakistani population. A case-control study was conducted on 150 patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and 150 controls. Blood samples were collected, and genomic DNA was extracted and amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) constitute an expanding group of severely disabling and, most frequently, drug-resistant disorders starting in the first year of life. Among them, there is DEE43, caused by dominant mutations in the GABRB3 gene. We present first neuropathological findings in a novel, molecularly confirmed case with the fatal course. The neuropathological analysis revealed co-existing developmental anomalies and retardation of myelination resulting from disturbed early brain growth as well as lesions caused by epileptic hypoxic-ischemic episodes.