Epilepsia. Official Journal of the International League Against Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective

This study was undertaken to evaluate the influence that subject‐specific factors have on intracranial interictal epileptiform discharge (IED) rates in persons with refractory epilepsy.

Methods

One hundred fifty subjects with intracranial electrodes performed multiple sessions of a free recall memory task; this standardized task controlled for subject attention levels. We utilized a dominance analysis to rank the importance of subject‐specific factors based on their relative influence on IED rates. Linear mixed‐effects models were employed to comprehensively examine factors with highly ranked importance.

Results

Antiseizure ...

Abstract

Objective

Incomplete hippocampal inversion (IHI) is a relatively frequent radiological finding at visual inspection in both epilepsy and healthy controls, but its clinical significance is unclear. Here, we systematically retrieve and assess the association between epilepsy and IHI using a meta‐analytic approach. Additionally, we estimate the prevalence of IHI in patients with malformation of cortical development (MCD).

Methods

We systematically searched two databases (Embase and PubMed) to identify potentially eligible studies from their inception to December 2019. For inclusion, studies were population‐based, case–control, ...

Abstract

Increasing evidence indicates the pathogenetic relevance of regulatory genomic motifs for variability in the manifestation of brain disorders. In this context, cis‐regulatory effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on gene expression can contribute to changing transcript levels of excitability‐relevant molecules and episodic seizure manifestation in epilepsy. Biopsy specimens of patients undergoing epilepsy surgery for seizure relief provide unique insights into the impact of promoter SNPs on corresponding mRNA expression. Here, we have scrutinized whether two linked regulatory SNPs (rs2744575; 4779C > G ...

Abstract

Epilepsy is seen historically as a disease of aberrant neuronal signaling manifesting as seizures. With the discovery of numerous auto‐antibodies and the subsequent growth in understanding of autoimmune encephalitis, there has been an increasing emphasis on the contribution of the innate and adaptive immune system to ictogenesis and epileptogenesis. Pathogenic antibodies, complement activation, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, and microglial activation are seen, to various degrees, in different seizure‐associated neuroinflammatory and autoimmune conditions. These aberrant immune responses are thought to cause ...

Abstract

Objective

To use clinically informed machine learning to derive prediction models for early and late premature death in epilepsy.

Methods

This was a population‐based primary care observational cohort study. All patients meeting a case definition for incident epilepsy in the Health Improvement Network database for inclusive years 2000‐2012 were included. A modified Delphi process identified 30 potential risk factors. Outcome was early (within 4 years of epilepsy diagnosis) and late (4 years or more from diagnosis) mortality. We used regularized logistic regression, support vector machines, ...

Abstract

The study assessed the clinical response to add‐on brivaracetam (BRV) in real‐world practice by means of time‐to‐baseline seizure count methodology. Patients with focal epilepsy who were prescribed add‐on BRV were identified. Primary endpoint was the time‐to‐baseline seizure count defined as the number of days until each patient experienced the number of focal seizures that occurred in the 90 days before BRV initiation. Subgroup analysis was performed according to levetiracetam (LEV) status (naive vs prior use). Three‐hundred eighty‐seven patients were included. The ...

Abstract

Objective

To ascertain factors that are related to the antiepileptic drug load in epilepsy.

Methods

In this cross‐sectional study, we analyzed a large cohort of conservatively treated patients with epilepsy (n = 1135) and a smaller homogeneous group of presurgical patients with neuropathologically confirmed unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (n = 91). Considered clinical variables comprised (1) presence of an underlying cerebral lesion, (2) onset and (3) duration of epilepsy, (4) seizure frequency, (5) generalized or focal to bilateral tonic‐clonic seizures, (6) ictal impairment of awareness, and (7) a ...

Abstract

Objective

To utilize traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a model for investigating functioning during acute stress experiences in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and to identify neural mechanisms underlying the link between changes in processing of stressful experiences and mental health symptoms in PNES.

Methods

We recruited 94 participants: 50 with TBI only (TBI‐only) and 44 with TBI and PNES (TBI + PNES). Participants completed mood (Beck Depression Inventory‐II), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom (PTSD Checklist‐Specific Event) assessments before undergoing functional ...