Epilepsia. Official Journal of the International League Against Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective

The US Food and Drug Administration recently issued a warning against the use of the antiseizure medication lamotrigine in people at risk of cardiac rhythm and conduction abnormalities. This study assessed the risk of cardiac morbidity and mortality in new users of lamotrigine.

Methods

In a Danish population-based cohort study, we followed cohort members aged ≥15 years for the first 2 years after they initiated lamotrigine therapy. The main outcomes were cardiac conduction disorders in people without pre-existing cardiac morbidity and all-cause mortality in ...

Abstract

Objective

Based on the promising results of randomized controlled trials, deep brain stimulation (DBS) and responsive neurostimulation (RNS) are used increasingly in the treatment of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is an indication for either DBS of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (ANT) or temporal lobe (TL) RNS, but there are no studies that directly compare the seizure benefits and adverse effects associated with these therapies in this patient population. We, therefore, examined all patients who ...

Abstract

Patients with anti-leucine-rich glioma-inactivated 1 protein (LGI1) or anti-contactin-associated protein 2 (CASPR2) antibody encephalitis typically present with frequent epileptic seizures. The seizures generally respond well to immunosuppressive therapy, and the long-term seizure outcome seems to be favorable. Consequentially, diagnosing acute symptomatic seizures secondary to autoimmune encephalitis instead of autoimmune epilepsy was proposed. However, published data on long-term seizure outcomes in CASPR2 and LGI1 antibody encephalitis are mostly based on patient reports, and seizure underreporting is a recognized issue. Clinical records ...

Abstract

Objective

Working memory deficits are prevalent in childhood epilepsy. Working memory processing is thought to be supported by the phase of hippocampal neural oscillations. Disruptions in working memory have previously been linked to the occurrence of transient epileptic activity. This study aimed to resolve the associations between oscillatory neural activity, transient epileptiform events, and working memory in children with epilepsy.

Methods

Intracranial recordings were acquired from stereotactically-implanted electrodes in the hippocampi, epileptogenic zones, and working memory-related networks of children with drug-resistant epilepsy during ...

Abstract

Objective

Data on COVID-19 outcomes in persons with epilepsy (PWE) are scarce and inconclusive. We aimed to study the risk of hospitalization and death for COVID-19 in a large cohort of PWE from 01 March 2020 to 31 October 2021.

Methods

Historical cohort design (EpiLink Bologna), comparing adult PWE grouped in people with focal epilepsy (PFE), idiopathic generalized epilepsy (PIGE), developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathy (PDEE), and a matched population cohort (ratio 1:10) for age, sex, residence, and comorbidity (assessed with the multisource comorbidity ...

Abstract

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a leading epilepsy related cause of death. Researchers have highlighted the similarities between SUDEP and Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) but perinatal risk factors such as those identified for SIDS, have not been assessed previously for SUDEP. We carried out a population-based case-control of 58 SUDEP individuals and 384 living epilepsy controls born after 1982 utilizing the Swedish Medical Birth Register together with other national health registers and individual medical records to examine ...

Abstract

Objective:

Epileptic Spasms (ES) are common in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). However the underlying network alterations and relationship with epileptogenic tubers are poorly understood. We examined interictal functional connectivity (FC) using stereo-EEG (SEEG) in patients with TSC to investigate the relationship between tubers, epileptogenicity and ES.

Methods:

We analysed 18 patients with TSC who underwent SEEG (mean age 11.5 years). The dominant tuber (DT) was defined as the most epileptogenic tuber using the Epileptogenicity Index. Epileptogenic Zone (EZ) organisation was quantitatively separated into focal ...

Abstract

To date, the unpredictability of seizures remains a source of suffering for people with epilepsy, motivating decades of research into methods to forecast seizures. Originally, only few scientists and neurologists ventured into this niche endeavor, which, given the difficulty of the task, soon turned into a long and winding road. Over the past decade, however, our narrow field has seen a major acceleration, with trials of chronic electroencephalographic devices and the subsequent discovery of cyclical patterns in the occurrence of ...

SUMMARY

Objective

Epileptic spikes and seizures seem present early in the disease process of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, it is unclear how soluble and insoluble amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau proteins affect seizure development in vivo. We aim to contribute to this field by assessing the vulnerability to 6 Hz corneal kindling of young female mice from two well-characterized transgenic AD models and by testing their responsiveness to selected antiseizure drugs (ASDs).

Methods

We used seven-week-old triple transgenic (3xTg) mice that have both amyloid ...