Seizure

Epilepsy is a chronic non-communicable disease affecting more than 50 million people worldwide [1]. It has been recognized that people with epilepsy (PWE) are at increased risk of death [2,3] with an overall standardised mortality ratio (SMR) of 1.7-6.5 [3–13]. However, the mortality rates of PWE varies among countries, with SMR in Europe and America ranging from 1.7 to 3.1 [3,5–8] while in Asia and Africa, it ranges from 2.5-6.5 [9–13].

Epilepsy is not a single entity; various brain disorders may cause various types of epileptic seizures. For example, patients with idiopathic (genetic) generalized epilepsies (IGE) suffer from generalized seizures [generalized tonic-clonic, myoclonic, and absences]; they comprise about one-fifth of the epilepsy populations 1. Patients with focal epilepsies suffer from focal seizures with or without impaired awareness. Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most frequent type of focal epilepsies and it comprises about one-fifth of the epilepsy populations 2.

Nowadays, about half of the world’s population will suffer from one or more traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) during the course of their lifetime [1]. With the growing population in China, the absolute numbers of TBI patients will exceed that of most other countries, causing a huge burden to society and families. Huang et al. reported that there are 770,060 to 890,990 TBI cases every year in China [2].

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder affecting multiple-organ systems, with all patients having loss-of-function mutations in either the TSC1 (encoding hamartin) or TSC2 (encoding tuberin) genes [1-3]. The incidence of patients with TSC is reported as 1 case per 6,000–10,000 live births [3, 4]. Approximately 80–90% of TSC patients are affected by epilepsy, which is the most common symptom in patients with TSC, and most of them have related symptoms in the first year after birth [5].

Electroencephalography (EEG) microstate analysis is a whole-brain imaging technique that can characterize the organization and temporal dynamics of large-scale cortical activity with high temporal resolution [1]. The concept for the microscopic state of EEG comes from the discovery that broad-band spontaneous EEG activity at rest can be described with a limited number of scalp potential topographies, which remain quasi-stable for a specific length of time before rapidly changing into a new map configuration [2].

Psychiatric disorders occur more often in persons with epilepsy (PWE) than in the general population and persons with other neurological diseases [1]. The prevalence of depressive disorders ranges from 30% to 50%, and though neglected for a long time, anxiety disorders occur in 25 to 52% [2–5], with prevalence of 19.6% for anxiety disorders in persons with drug-resistance epilepsy [4]. Interictal psychiatric disorders and symptoms increase the burden of living with epilepsy [2], and are associated with adverse outcomes, poor ...

Action myoclonus renal failure syndrome (AMRF) is a rare form of progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME) associated with severe renal failure. AMRF is an autosomal recessive (AR) disease manifested by the development of neurologic and/or renal symptoms in the 2nd and 3rd decades. The disease occurs due to mutations in SCARB2, which encodes the lysosomal integral membrane type 2 (LIMP-2) protein [1].

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the add-on treatment of stiripentol (STP) in adult patients with severely pharmacoresistant focal or multifocal epilepsy.

The prevalence of childhood epilepsy in Japan is 8.8 per 1000 children under the age of 13 [1]. In general, approximately two-thirds of these patients are expected to be in remission before puberty, and the remaining one-third must continue medication after adolescence; thus, requiring a transition from pediatric to adult care [2]. The number of patients who transition from pediatric to adult care has been increasing due to medical progress in all childhood disorders [3]. As a result, the transition ...

: Mechanically ventilated patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) for generalized convulsive status epilepticus (GCSE) are a heterogeneous population. Our objective was to evaluate the number of patients who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for refractory GCSE and describe their initial management and prognosis.