Epilepsia. Official Journal of the International League Against Epilepsy

Rate, reasons, and predictors of antiepileptic drug (AED) discontinuation were investigated in a well-defined cohort of people with epilepsy to verify efficacy and tolerability of treatment up to 20 years from treatment initiation.

The history of AED usage in children and adults with epilepsy registered with 123 family physicians in an area of Northern Italy between 2000 and 2008 was recorded. Cumulative probabilities of AED withdrawal for specific reasons were estimated using cumulative incidence functions. The probabilities ...

Rate, reasons, and predictors of antiepileptic drug (AED) discontinuation were investigated in a well-defined cohort of people with epilepsy to verify efficacy and tolerability of treatment up to 20 years from treatment initiation.

The history of AED usage in children and adults with epilepsy registered with 123 family physicians in an area of Northern Italy between 2000 and 2008 was recorded. Cumulative probabilities of AED withdrawal for specific reasons were estimated using cumulative incidence functions. The probabilities ...

We designed a prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind study to evaluate the efficacy of hippocampal deep brain stimulation (Hip-DBS) in patients with refractory temporary lobe epilepsy (TLE).

Sixteen adult patients with refractory TLE were studied. Patient’s workup included medical history, interictal and ictal electroencephalography (EEG), and high-resolution 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Patients were randomized on a 1:1 proportion to an active (stimulation on) or to a control (no stimulation) arm. After implantation, patients were allowed to recover ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in health care resource utilization following the initiation of perampanel for the treatment of epilepsy in the United States.

Health care claims from Symphony Health’s Integrated Dataverse database between December 2012 and November 2015 were analyzed. Patients newly initiated on perampanel, having ≥1 epilepsy (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] code 345.xx, ICD-10-CM code G40.xxx) or nonfebrile convulsion (ICD-9-CM code 780.39, ICD-10-CM code R56.9) diagnosis, ...

ATP is released into the extracellular space during pathologic processes including increased neuronal firing. Once released, ATP acts on P2 receptors including ionotropic P2X and metabotropic P2Y receptors, resulting in changes to glial function and neuronal network excitability. Evidence suggests an involvement of P2Y receptors in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, but there has been no systematic effort to characterize the expression and function of the P2Y receptor family during seizures and in experimental and human epilepsy.

Status ...

ATP is released into the extracellular space during pathologic processes including increased neuronal firing. Once released, ATP acts on P2 receptors including ionotropic P2X and metabotropic P2Y receptors, resulting in changes to glial function and neuronal network excitability. Evidence suggests an involvement of P2Y receptors in the pathogenesis of epilepsy, but there has been no systematic effort to characterize the expression and function of the P2Y receptor family during seizures and in experimental and human epilepsy.

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The cognitive and mood effects of levetiracetam (LEV) in older adults are not known. This study compared the cognitive and mood effects of LEV to placebo in healthy older adults.

Cognitive, mood, and balance variables were compared between LEV and placebo using a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study with two 5-week treatment periods. Healthy volunteers (n = 20) aged 65–80 (mean age 72.4) received either LEV or placebo in which the LEV target dose was 1,000 mg/day. ...

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and kallikrein-related peptidase 8 (KLK8) are serine proteases that contribute to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling after brain injury. They can be labelled with the novel radiotracer [¹¹¹In]MICA-401. As the first step in exploring the applicability of [¹¹¹In]MICA-401 in tracing the mechanisms of postinjury ECM reorganization in vivo, we performed in vitro and ex vivo studies, assessing [¹¹¹In]MICA-401 distribution in the brain in two animal models: kainic acid–induced status epilepticus (KASE) and controlled cortical ...

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and kallikrein-related peptidase 8 (KLK8) are serine proteases that contribute to extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling after brain injury. They can be labelled with the novel radiotracer [¹¹¹In]MICA-401. As the first step in exploring the applicability of [¹¹¹In]MICA-401 in tracing the mechanisms of postinjury ECM reorganization in vivo, we performed in vitro and ex vivo studies, assessing [¹¹¹In]MICA-401 distribution in the brain in two animal models: kainic acid–induced status epilepticus (KASE) and controlled cortical ...

This study aimed to identify noninvasive biomarkers of human epilepsy that can reliably detect and localize epileptic brain regions. Having noninvasive biomarkers would greatly enhance patient diagnosis, patient monitoring, and novel therapy development. At the present time, only surgically invasive, direct brain recordings are capable of detecting these regions with precision, which severely limits the pace and scope of both clinical management and research progress in epilepsy.

We compared high versus low or nonspiking regions in nine ...