Epilepsia. Official Journal of the International League Against Epilepsy

Abstract

Objective

Common data elements (CDEs) are standardized questions and answer choices that allow aggregation, analysis, and comparison of observations from multiple sources. Clinical CDEs are foundational for learning health care systems, a data‐driven approach to health care focused on continuous improvement of outcomes. We aimed to create clinical CDEs for pediatric epilepsy.

Methods

A multiple stakeholder group (clinicians, researchers, parents, caregivers, advocates, and electronic health record [EHR] vendors) developed clinical CDEs for routine care of children with epilepsy. Initial drafts drew from clinical ...

Abstract

Objective

Treatment delays for refractory convulsive status epilepticus (RCSE) are associated with worse outcomes. In the United States, treatment for pediatric RCSE is slower than guidelines recommend. To address this gap, the American Academy of Neurology and Child Neurology Society (AAN/CNS) developed a quality measure: the percentage of RCSE patients that receive third‐line treatment within 60 minutes. We aimed to develop computable phenotypes for convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) and RCSE to automate calculation of the quality measure.

Methods

From an observational cohort of children ...

Abstract

Objective

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a major outcome of cardiac dysfunction in patients with epilepsy. In continuation of our previous work, the present study was envisaged to explore the key regulators responsible for cardiac damage associated with chronic seizures using whole transcriptome and proteome analysis in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Methods

A standard lithium‐pilocarpine protocol was used to induce recurrent seizures in rats. The isolated rat heart tissue was subjected to transcriptomic and proteomic analysis. An integrated ...

Abstract

Objective

Birth asphyxia (BA) is often associated with seizures that may exacerbate the ensuing hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy. In rodent models of BA, exposure to hypoxia is used to evoke seizures, that commence already during the insult. This is in stark contrast to clinical BA, in which seizures are typically seen upon recovery. Here, we introduce a term‐equivalent rat model of BA, in which seizures are triggered after exposure to asphyxia.

Methods

Postnatal day 11–12 male rat pups were exposed to steady asphyxia (15 min; air ...

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, ...