Neurological manifestations of COVID‐19 such as encephalitis and seizures have been increasingly reported, but our understanding of COVID‐related brain injury is still limited. Herein we describe prefrontal involvement in a COVID‐19 patient who presented prior anosmia, raising the question of a potential trans‐olfactory‐bulb brain invasion.
Seguir leyendo →Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is the most common genetic generalized epilepsy syndrome. Myoclonus may relate to motor system hyperexcitability and can be provoked by cognitive activities. To aid genetic mapping in complex neuropsychiatric disorders, recent research has utilized imaging intermediate phenotypes (endophenotypes). Here, we aimed to (a) characterize activation profiles of the motor system during different cognitive tasks in patients with JME and their unaffected siblings, and (b) validate those as endophenotypes of JME.
This prospective cross‐sectional investigation included 32 patients ...
Seguir leyendo →To investigate the impact of clinical and demographic parameters on the duration of focal onset seizures with and without secondary generalization using precise duration measurements from intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) recordings.
Patients with unifocal epilepsy syndromes and iEEG recording were retrospectively identified from the database of the local epilepsy center (2006‐2016). Seizure duration was defined as time difference of iEEG seizure pattern onset and cessation. The seizure semiology was classified based on video recordings. Clinical and demographic data were extracted from patient ...
Seguir leyendo →The assay of saliva samples provides a valuable alternative to the use of blood samples for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), at least for certain categories of patients. To determine the feasibility of using saliva sampling for the TDM of rufinamide, we compared rufinamide concentrations in paired samples of saliva and plasma collected from 26 patients with epilepsy at steady state. Within‐patient relationships between plasma rufinamide concentrations and dose, and the influence of comedication were also investigated. Assay results in the ...
Seguir leyendo →Neonatal status epilepticus (SE) is a life‐threatening medical emergency. Unfortunately, up to 50% of neonates with SE are resistant to current antiseizure drugs, highlighting the need for better treatments. This study aims to explore a novel metabolic approach as a potential alternative treatment to control neonatal SE, using the glycolytic inhibitor 2‐deoxyglucose (2‐DG).
SE was induced by pilocarpine (300 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [ip]) in neonatal Sprague Dawley rats (postnatal day 10 [P10]‐P17) and was monitored by video‐electroencephalography (V‐EEG). After 30 minutes of SE, 2‐DG ...
Seguir leyendo →Patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy (DRE) rarely achieve seizure freedom with medical therapy alone. Despite being safe and effective for select patients with DRE, epilepsy surgery remains heavily underutilized. Multiple studies have indicated that the overall rates of surgery in patients with DRE have stagnated in recent years and may be decreasing, even when hospitalizations for epilepsy‐related problems are on the rise. Ultimately, many patients with DRE who might otherwise benefit from surgery continue to have intractable seizures, lacking access to ...
Seguir leyendo →To characterize the presence and nature of discrete behavioral phenotypes and their correlates in a cohort of youth with new and recent onset focal and generalized epilepsies.
The parents of 290 youth (age = 8‐18 years) with epilepsy (n = 183) and typically developing participants (n = 107) completed the Child Behavior Checklist for children aged 6‐18 from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment. The eight behavior problem scales were subjected to hierarchical clustering analytics to identify behavioral subgroups. To characterize the external validity ...
Seguir leyendo →We aim to evaluate the impact of zonisamide (ZNS) compared to topiramate (TPM) on cognition in patients with epilepsy. Although the risk of cognitive side effects has been clearly demonstrated for TPM, comparable side effects in ZNS have been suggested but evidence from studies is inconclusive.
In this retrospective observational study, we analyzed patients’ records from before and after introduction or withdrawal of ZNS vs TPM. Data were gathered during routine clinical care protocols. Standardized monitoring of executive functions (EpiTrack), verbal ...
Seguir leyendo →Seizures are a well‐recognized and often prominent manifestation of autoimmune encephalitic syndromes. Progress in detection of pathogenic neural autoantibodies has led to increased awareness of autoimmune causes of seizures. Clinical studies of patients with these autoantibodies have improved our understanding of the seizure characteristics, treatments, and seizure prognosis in these disorders. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Autoimmunity and Inflammation Taskforce proposes conceptual definitions for two main diagnostic entities: (a) acute symptomatic seizures secondary to autoimmune encephalitis, and (b) autoimmune‐associated ...
Seguir leyendo →This study estimated trajectories of health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) over a 10‐year period among children newly diagnosed with epilepsy. We also modeled the characteristics of children, parents, and families associated with each identified trajectory.
Data came from the HERQULES (Health‐Related Quality of Life in Children With Epilepsy Study), a Canada‐wide prospective cohort study of children (aged 4‐12 years) with newly diagnosed epilepsy. Parents reported on their children’s HRQOL at diagnosis, and at 0.5‐, 1‐, 2‐, 8‐, and 10‐year follow‐ups using the ...
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