Epilepsia. Official Journal of the International League Against Epilepsy

Mood disorders are the most common comorbid conditions in epilepsy, but the cause remains unclear. One possible explanation is a shared genetic susceptibility to epilepsy and mood disorders. We tested this hypothesis by evaluating lifetime prevalence of mood disorders in relatives with and without epilepsy in families containing multiple individuals with epilepsy, and comparing the findings with rates from a general population sample.

The Composite International Diagnostic Interview was administered to 192 individuals from 60 families, including ...

Pathogenic SLC6A1 variants were recently described in patients with myoclonic atonic epilepsy (MAE) and intellectual disability (ID). We set out to define the phenotypic spectrum in a larger cohort of SCL6A1-mutated patients.

We collected 24 SLC6A1 probands and 6 affected family members. Four previously published cases were included for further electroclinical description. In total, we reviewed the electroclinical data of 34 subjects.

Cognitive development was impaired in 33/34 (97%) subjects; 28/34 had mild to moderate ID, with ...

To clarify longitudinal changes in white matter microstructures from the onset of disease in patients with West syndrome (WS) of unknown etiology.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was prospectively performed at onset and at 12 and 24 months old in 17 children with WS of unknown etiology. DTI was analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and tract-specific analysis (TSA) of 13 fiber tracts, and fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were compared with those of 42 age-matched ...

Epileptic spasms (ES) often become drug-resistant. To reveal the electrophysiological difference between children with ES (ES+) and without ES (ES−), we compared the occurrence rate (OR) of high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) and the modulation index (MI) of coupling between slow and fast oscillations.

In ES+, we hypothesized that (1) pathological HFOs are more widely distributed and (2) slow oscillations show stronger coupling with pathological HFOs than in ES−.

We retrospectively reviewed 24 children with drug-resistant multilobar onset epilepsy, who ...

Epileptic spasms (ES) often become drug-resistant. To reveal the electrophysiological difference between children with ES (ES+) and without ES (ES−), we compared the occurrence rate (OR) of high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) and the modulation index (MI) of coupling between slow and fast oscillations.

In ES+, we hypothesized that (1) pathological HFOs are more widely distributed and (2) slow oscillations show stronger coupling with pathological HFOs than in ES−.

We retrospectively reviewed 24 children with drug-resistant multilobar onset epilepsy, who ...

Phenobarbital is the most commonly utilized drug for the treatment of neonatal seizures. The use of phenobarbital continues despite growing evidence that it exerts suboptimal seizure control and is associated with long-term alterations in brain structure, function, and behavior. Alterations following neonatal phenobarbital exposure include acute induction of neuronal apoptosis, disruption of synaptic development in the striatum, and a host of behavioral deficits. These behavioral deficits include those in learning and memory mediated by the hippocampus. However, ...

Given the significant impact epilepsy can have on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with this condition and their families, there is great clinical interest in evidence-based psychological treatments aimed at enhancing well-being in people with epilepsy (PWE). An evaluation of the current evidence is needed to assess the effects of psychological treatments for PWE on HRQoL outcomes to inform future therapeutic recommendations and research designs.

The operational definition of psychological treatments included a broad range ...

Endovascular therapy has recently become standard therapy for select patients with acute ischemic stroke. Infarcted brain tissue may undergo hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after endovascular therapy. We investigated the association between HT and occurrence of poststroke seizures in patients treated with endovascular therapy.

Consecutive patients treated with endovascular therapy for acute anterior circulation ischemic stroke were included. HT was assessed with computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI) at 24 h after stroke onset. Patients were followed for up to ...

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in adult central nervous system, and profound alterations of GABA receptor functions are linked to temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Here we describe the functional relationships between GABA receptors type B (GABA_BR) and type A (GABA_AR) in human temporal cortex and how TLE affects this aspect of GABAergic signaling.

Miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) were recorded by patch-clamp techniques from human L5 pyramidal neurons in slices from temporal cortex tissue ...

To estimate the comparative efficacy among antiepileptic drugs in the pediatric population (0-18 years).

Using the Embase and MEDLINE databases, we updated to February 2017 the search strategy of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines for epilepsy. We only included randomized clinical trials conducted in children and mixed-age populations. According to the PRISMA network meta-analysis guideline, the study-level quality assessment was made with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Three investigators independently selected articles. The efficacy ...