Epilepsia. Official Journal of the International League Against Epilepsy

To identify abnormal thalamocortical circuits in the severe epilepsy of Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS) that may explain the shared electroclinical phenotype and provide potential treatment targets.

Twenty patients with a diagnosis of LGS (mean age = 28.5 years) and 26 healthy controls (mean age = 27.6 years) were compared using task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The thalamus was parcellated according to functional connectivity with 10 cortical networks derived using group-level independent component analysis. For each cortical network, ...

To evaluate the long-term seizure outcome and potential factors associated with seizure outcome in patients with anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis.

In the setting of a prospective, single-center, longitudinal cohort study, 109 patients were evaluated with ongoing follow-up. Patients underwent clinical evaluation every 3 months. Seizure outcomes and the potential risk factors were assessed with a median follow-up of 24 months (6–60 months).

Of 109 patients (47 men; 62 women) with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, 88 patients (80.7%) had reported ...

Kv7 channels mediate the voltage-gated M-type potassium current. Reduction of M current due to KCNQ2 mutations causes early onset epileptic encephalopathies (EOEEs). Mutations in STXBP1 encoding the syntaxin binding protein 1 can produce a phenotype similar to that of KCNQ2 mutations, suggesting a possible link between STXBP1 and Kv7 channels. These channels are known to be modulated by syntaxin-1A (Syn-1A) that binds to the C-terminal domain of the Kv7.2 subunit and strongly inhibits M current. Here, we ...

This study aimed to clarify the effect of statins on preventing the risk of postradiation epilepsy.

We performed a retrospective analysis of neurological nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with a history of radiotherapy. Patients with a history of epilepsy before radiation and those who received prophylactically antiepileptic treatment were excluded. The demographic and clinical data of these patients were collected through chart review. We used Kaplan–Meier analysis (log-rank test) to examine the effect of statins on epilepsy-free survival. Cox ...

Interictal epileptic spikes (IES) represent a signature of the transient synchronous and excessive discharge of a large ensemble of cortical heterogeneous neurons. Epilepsy cannot be reduced to a hypersynchronous activation of neurons whose functioning is impaired, resulting on electroencephalogram (EEG) in epileptic seizures or IES. The complex pathophysiological mechanisms require a global approach to the interactions between neural synaptic and nonsynaptic, vascular, and metabolic systems. In the present study, we focused on the interaction between synaptic and ...

Older antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are known to cause Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN). However, evidence for newer AED is sparse. We quantified risks of SJS/TEN in association with use of all AEDs in the United Kingdom.

In a matched case-control study of 480 previously validated SJS/TEN cases (1995–2013) we used conditional logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and calculated absolute risks of SJS/TEN within separate cohorts of new users ...

Older antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are known to cause Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN). However, evidence for newer AED is sparse. We quantified risks of SJS/TEN in association with use of all AEDs in the United Kingdom.

In a matched case-control study of 480 previously validated SJS/TEN cases (1995–2013) we used conditional logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and calculated absolute risks of SJS/TEN within separate cohorts of new users ...

Epilepsy is one of the most prominent symptoms of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a genetic disorder, and may be related to developmental defects resulting from impaired TSC1 or TSC2 gene function in astrocytes and neurons. Inactivation of the Tsc1 gene driven by a glial-fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) promoter during embryonic brain development leads to widespread pathologic effects on astrocytes and neurons, culminating in severe, progressive epilepsy in mice (Tsc1^GFAP-Cre mice). However, the developmental timing and cellular specificity ...

Medically refractory epilepsy is a debilitating disorder that is particularly challenging to treat in patients who have already failed a surgical resection. Evidence regarding outcomes of further epilepsy surgery is limited to small case series and reviews. Therefore, our group performed the first quantitative meta-analysis of the literature from the past 30 years to assess for rates and predictors of successful reoperations.

A PubMed search was conducted for studies reporting outcomes of repeat epilepsy surgery. Studies were excluded ...