Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Epilepsy Behav 2019 Feb 12;92:341-344. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Department of Health Services Research, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Centre for Economic Evaluation, Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Objectives: Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) have the appearance of epileptic seizures, yet show no epileptiform discharges in the brain. The quality of life (QOL) in patients with PNES is reportedly low and trauma eems to be a relevant risk factor. The objective of this study was to examine the difference between measures of (epilepsy-specific) QOL (Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory; QOLIE-31p) and psychological dysfunction (trauma symptom inventory; TSI) between patients with diagnosed PNES with self-reported trauma and those without self-reported trauma. Read More

Epilepsia 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa.

Objective: Severe periictal respiratory depression is thought to be linked to risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) but its determinants are largely unknown. Interindividual differences in the interictal ventilatory response to CO (hypercapnic ventilatory response [HCVR] or central respiratory CO chemosensitivity) may identify patients who are at increased risk for severe periictal hypoventilation. HCVR has not been studied previously in patients with epilepsy; therefore we evaluated a method to measure it at bedside in an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) and examined its relationship to postictal hypercapnia following generalized convulsive seizures (GCSs). Read More

J Vis Exp 2019 Jan 26(143). Epub 2019 Jan 26.

Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine; Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine;

The gold standard for sleep monitoring is attended in-lab polysomnography; however, this method may be cost-prohibitive and inconvenient for patients and research participants. Home sleep testing has gained momentum in the field of sleep medicine due to its convenience and lower cost, as well as being more naturalistic. The accuracy and quality of home sleep testing, however, may be variable because studies are not monitored by sleep technologists. Read More

Seizure 2019 Feb 17;65:124-128. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address:

Purpose: Patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) frequently complain of poor sleep, yet there are few and inconsistent data supporting objective sleep disturbances in this population. In this prospective observational study, we aimed to compare objective and subjective sleep-wake patterns in patients with PNES with those with epilepsy.

Methods: Subjects were recruited through the Brigham and Women's Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) over a 6-month period, and were diagnosed as having PNES or epilepsy by experts using video-electroencephalography (v-EEG). Read More

Epilepsia 2019 Feb 17;60(2):211-219. Epub 2019 Jan 17.

Epilepsy-Center Berlin-Brandenburg, Department of Neurology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Objective: Despite the obvious advantages of resective surgery in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, namely high probability of seizure freedom, decreased mortality, and increased quality of life, referral rates from physicians and approval rates by patients for presurgical assessment remain constantly low.

Methods: In the outpatient clinics of a tertiary epilepsy center, checklists were implemented asking treating epileptologists whether they recommended presurgical evaluation with noninvasive video-electroencephalographic monitoring to adult patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy and asking respective patients whether they followed this recommendation.

Results: Of 185 eligible patients, 80 (43%) were recommended presurgical evaluation by their epileptologists, and 24 (30%) of these patients consented. Read More

Epilepsia 2019 Feb 15;60(2):201-210. Epub 2019 Jan 15.

Department of Epileptology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.

Objective: Generalized convulsive seizures (GCS) are associated with high demands on the cardiovascular system, thereby facilitating cardiac complications. To investigate occurrence, influencing factors, and extent of cardiac stress or injury, the alterations and time course of the latest generation of cardiac blood markers were investigated after documented GCS.

Methods: Adult patients with refractory epilepsy who underwent video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring along with simultaneous one-lead electrocardiography (ECG) recordings were included. Read More

Brain Dev 2019 Jan 11. Epub 2019 Jan 11.

Clinical Pediatrics, Pediatric Neurology Center, Department of Molecular Medicine and Development, University of Siena, Siena, Italy. Electronic address:

MECP2 duplication syndrome (MECP2 DS) is an X-linked disorder characterized by early-onset hypotonia, poor speech development, recurrent respiratory infections, epilepsy and progressive spasticity. Epilepsy occurs in more than 50% of the affected patients. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) are the most common seizure-type described but atonic seizures, absences and myoclonic seizures have also been reported. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2019 Jan 3. Epub 2019 Jan 3.

Department of Neurology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A.

Purpose: Epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) admissions provide a definitive diagnosis for approximately three-quarters of patients. However, many patients do not receive a definitive diagnosis following EMU admission. Ambulatory EEG following nondiagnostic EMU admissions was evaluated as a means of providing a diagnosis for these patients. Read More

Neurol Sci 2019 Jan 5. Epub 2019 Jan 5.

Neurology Care Line (127), Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, 2002 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX, 77030, USA.

Differentiating between epilepsy and psychogenic non-epileptic events (PNEE) can be difficult given similar presentations. PNEE is often misdiagnosed, resulting in unwarranted treatment with anti-epileptic drugs (AED). While the gold standard for differentiating PNEE from epilepsy is video EEG (VEGG) monitoring, self-reported symptomology has also been shown to discriminate between epilepsy and PNEE with high accuracy, particularly in cases where VEEG is difficult to obtain or when there are no observed events during extended monitoring. Read More

Seizure 2019 Feb 27;65:48-54. Epub 2018 Dec 27.

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Neurology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address:

Purpose: The aim of this prospective, video-electroencephalography (video-EEG) controlled study was to evaluate the performance of an accelerometry-based wearable system to detect tonic-clonic seizures (TCSs) and to investigate the accuracy of different seizure detection algorithms using separate training and test data sets.

Methods: Seventy-five epilepsy surgery candidates undergoing video-EEG monitoring were included. The patients wore one three-axis accelerometer on each wrist during video-EEG. Read More

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 2019 Jan 4. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Memory and Cognition Lab', Institute of Psychology, University of Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.

The ability to modulate our emotional experience, depending on our current goal and context, is of critical importance for adaptive behavior. This ability encompasses various emotion regulation strategies, such as fictional reappraisal, at stake whenever one engages in fictional works (e.g. Read More

Arch Cardiovasc Dis 2019 Feb 29;112(2):82-94. Epub 2018 Dec 29.

Service de neurophysiologie clinique, hôpital Roger-Salengro, CHRU de Lille, avenue du Professeur-Emile-Laine, 59037 Lille, France.

Background: Convulsive syncope and epileptic seizure share many similar clinical features. Early diagnosis is critical for choosing the appropriate management strategy.

Aim: Our aim was to evaluate the diagnostic yield of an innovative diagnostic strategy - combined head-up tilt test (HUT)/video electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring - in patients with unexplained seizure-like transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC). Read More

Epilepsy Res 2019 Feb 24;150:1-6. Epub 2018 Dec 24.

Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address:

Objective: Interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are important to identify the epileptogenic zone and to define epileptic syndromes. However, not all patients show IEDs on scalp EEG. We evaluate the likelihood of not findings spikes on prolonged Video-EEG Monitoring (VEM) in patients with focal epilepsy, and explore clinical correlates. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2019 Jan 20;90:172-177. Epub 2018 Dec 20.

Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address:

Objective: The objective of this study was to quantify the features of stereotypy in epileptic seizures and compare it with that of stereotypy in psychogenic nonepileptic seizure-like events (PNES) confirmed by video-electroencephalography (VEEG) monitoring.

Methods: Video-electroencephalography monitoring records of 20 patients with temporal lobe seizures (TLS) and 20 with PNES were retrospectively reviewed (n = 138 seizures, 48 TLS and 90 PNES). We analyzed the semiology of 59 behaviors of interest for their presence, duration, sequence, and continuity using quantified measures that were entered into statistical analysis. Read More

Br J Anaesth 2019 Jan 2;122(1):60-68. Epub 2018 Oct 2.

Department of Intensive Care Medicine and Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Background: Delirium is frequently unrecognised. EEG shows slower frequencies (i.e. Read More

Neurology 2019 Jan 19;92(3):e171-e182. Epub 2018 Dec 19.

From the NINDS Center for SUDEP Research (L.V., M.R.S.R., R.K.S., D.F., M.N., C.S., B.K.G., B.Z., A.Z., S.S., J.O., R.M.H., B.D., L.B., O.D., G.B.R., P.R., S.D.L.); Epilepsy Center (L.V., N.L., J.P.H., N.J.H., N.S., X.Z., V.R.-M., S.D.L.) and Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine (K.S.), University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, OH; University of Iowa School of Medicine (R.K.S., B.K.G., G.B.R.), Iowa City; NYU Langone School of Medicine (D.F., O.D.), New York; Sidney Kimmel Medical College (M.N.), Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA; Institute of Neurology (C.S., B.D.), University College London, UK; Feinberg School of Medicine (S.S.), Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Department of Neurobiology and Brain Research Institute (J.O., R.M.H.), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); Department of Neurology (L.B.), Columbia University, New York, NY; and Department of Clinical Neuroscience (P.R.), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Objective: To characterize peri-ictal apnea and postictal asystole in generalized convulsive seizures (GCS) of intractable epilepsy.

Methods: This was a prospective, multicenter epilepsy monitoring study of autonomic and breathing biomarkers of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in patients ≥18 years old with intractable epilepsy and monitored GCS. Video-EEG, thoracoabdominal excursions, nasal airflow, capillary oxygen saturation, and ECG were analyzed. Read More

Neurol Clin Pract 2018 Oct;8(5):397-402

Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.

Background: We describe the clinical features and outcome in patients with late-onset Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS).

Methods: Adult patients evaluated between January 1, 2000, and March 1, 2017, who presented with onset of LGS ≥10 years were identified. Data abstracted included age at seizure onset, seizure types, etiology, treatments, EEG and neuroimaging results, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings, and autoimmune evaluation. Read More

Neurology 2019 Jan 14;92(3):e194-e204. Epub 2018 Dec 14.

From the Departments of Medicine (S.S., Z.C., A.P., C.J.R., N.C.J., C.F., P.P., P.K., T.J.O.), Neurology (S.S., E.J.W., A.P., C.H., J.C., C.J.R., R.Y., C.F., P.P., P.K., T.J.O.), and Respiratory and Sleep Disorders Medicine (T.M., J.G.), The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Parkville; Department of Neuroscience (S.S., Z.C., A.P., N.C.J., C.F., P.P., P.K., T.J.O.), Central Clinical School, Monash University; Department of Neurology (S.S., A.P., P.P., P.K., T.J.O.), The Alfred Hospital; and Neuropsychiatry Unit (S.F., D.V.), The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Australia.

Objective: To examine the prevalence and risk factors of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in individuals with epilepsy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of consecutive patients admitted for inpatient video-EEG monitoring at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia, between December 1, 2011, and July 31, 2017. Participants underwent routine clinical investigations during their monitoring period including polysomnography, neurocognitive testing, and screening instruments of daytime somnolence, sleep quality, and quality of life. Read More

J Neurotrauma 2018 Dec 13. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

University of Eastern Finalnd , Neulaniementie 2 , Kuopio, Finland , 70211 ;

Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces seizures or status epilepticus (SE) in 20%-30% of patients during the acute phase. We hypothesized that severe TBI induced with lateral fluid-percussion injury (FPI) triggers post-impact SE. Adult Sprague-Dawley male rats were anesthetized with isoflurane and randomized into sham-operated experimental control or lateral FPI-induced severe TBI groups. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Dec;20(6):479-489

Epilepsy and Sleep Disorders Unit, Department of Neurology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.

To determine the electroclinical features of fixation-off sensitivity (FOS) in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). We searched the EEG database using the terms "fixation-off sensitivity" and "idiopathic generalized epilepsy" over a four-year period from March 2014 to April 2018 in the Xijing Hospital, Xi'an, China. FOS was evaluated according to the technique proposed by Panayiotopoulos. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Dec;20(6):530-534

Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.

Williams-Beuren syndrome is rarely associated with epilepsy. One previously reported case showed an association with apnoeic seizures while a few other cases showed an association with infantile epileptic spasms and generalized and focal seizures. We report the case of a 13-month-old boy with a deletion typically associated with Williams-Beuren syndrome, who presented with isolated apnoeic seizures which were refractory to multiple antiepileptic drugs but partially responsive to the ketogenic diet. Read More

Seizure 2019 Jan 24;64:34-40. Epub 2018 Nov 24.

Epilepsy Center, Freiburg University Medical Center, Germany.

Purpose: If consciousness or memory are impaired during an epileptic seizure, the patient may not experience or know how his/her own seizure looks like. It is disputed, whether being confronted with own seizures may lead to emotional stress or empower patients and decrease negative psychosocial consequences. We assessed patients' reactions to watching a video of their own seizure on measures of anxiety, depression and ten emotions. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2019 Jan 3;90:93-98. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

IRCCS "NEUROMED", Pozzilli, IS, Italy; Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report long-term seizure outcome in patients who underwent frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) surgery.

Method: This retrospective study included 44 consecutive subjects who underwent resective surgery for intractable FLE at IRCCS NEUROMED (period 2001-2014), followed up for at least 2 years (mean: 8.7 years). Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2019 Jan 2;90:90-92. Epub 2018 Dec 2.

Children's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, Canada; Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address:

Purpose: We compared various clinical characteristics of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) between young patients from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Canada, three nations with significantly different socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. This international cross-cultural comparative study may advance our knowledge and understanding of PNES in children and adolescents across the cultures and borders.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we investigated all patients 16 years of age or younger, with PNES admitted to the epilepsy monitoring units at one center in Iran, one center in Saudi Arabia, and one center in Canada. Read More

Epilepsia 2018 Dec 22;59(12):2272-2283. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

Department of Neurology, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.

Objective: The European Union-funded E-PILEPSY network (now continuing within the European Reference Network for rare and complex epilepsies [EpiCARE]) aims to harmonize and optimize presurgical diagnostic procedures by creating and implementing evidence-based guidelines across Europe. The present study evaluates the current evidence on the diagnostic accuracy of long-term video-electroencephalographic monitoring (LTM) in identifying the epileptogenic zone in epilepsy surgery candidates.

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials. Read More

Sleep 2018 Nov 26. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center, Departments of Psychiatry, Hennepin County Medical Center and University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Study Objectives: Complex sexual behavior during sleep (CSBS) is a well described clinical entity in NREM sleep parasomnias (i.e. sexsomnia). Read More

J Vis Exp 2018 Nov 8(141). Epub 2018 Nov 8.

Department of Medical Sciences, Section of Pharmacology, Neuroscience Center, University of Ferrara and National Institute of Neuroscience.

Microdialysis is a well-established neuroscience technique that correlates the changes of neurologically active substances diffusing into the brain interstitial space with the behavior and/or with the specific outcome of a pathology (e.g., seizures for epilepsy). Read More

Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc 2018 Jul;2018:3402-3405

A high number of patients with epileptic seizures (ES) are misdiagnosed due to prevalence of mimic conditions. The clinical characteristics of mimics are often similar to ES. The events mostly misdiagnosed are of psychogenic origin and are termed as psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2018 Dec 8;89:130-134. Epub 2018 Nov 8.

Department of Neurology, Karadeniz Technical University Medical Faculty, 61080 Trabzon, Turkey.

Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are more prevalent among women, and diagnosis may sometimes be delayed by as much as seven years. Understanding the effect of gender on the presentation of a PNES may assist with diagnosis based on semiological details in the clinical setting. Although video-EEG monitoring (VEM) is the gold standard for diagnosing PNES, determining gender-related seizure semiology through careful history may prevent diagnostic delay while waiting for VEM. Read More

Seizure 2018 Dec 26;63:48-51. Epub 2018 Oct 26.

Department of Neurology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.

Purpose: To determine the usefulness of the first-hour sleep EEG recording in identifying interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) during long-term video-EEG monitoring.

Method: We retrospectively reviewed 255 consecutive patients who underwent continuous long-term video-EEG monitoring in the adult epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) at the University of Chicago. The complete video-EEG recording was reviewed, and the occurrence of IEDs was determined for each patient. Read More

Epilepsia 2018 Dec 5;59(12):2231-2239. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Department of Neurosurgery, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.

Objective: This retrospective study was designed to assess the impact of corpus callosotomy (CC) in patients with intractable West syndrome (WS) without lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: This study involved 56 patients with WS who underwent CC between January 2000 and December 2014. Seizure outcomes and changes in psychomotor development were analyzed. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Feb 2;122:e864-e871. Epub 2018 Nov 2.

Department of Pharmacology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan. Electronic address:

Background: High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein plays a key role in triggering inflammatory responses in many diseases. Our previous study showed that HMGB1 is found upstream of secondary damage in traumatic brain injury (TBI). We found that anti-HMGB1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) effectively decreased acute brain damage, including the disruption of the blood-brain barrier, brain edema, and neurologic dysfunction. Read More

Epilepsy Res 2018 12 26;148:69-77. Epub 2018 Oct 26.

Neurology and Neuroscience Institute, Allegheny General Hospital, Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA, 15212, United States; Neurology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, United States; Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, United States. Electronic address:

The pathophysiological mechanisms of epileptogenesis following ischemic stroke in the aged brain are not well understood, largely due to limited developments in animal modeling of poststroke epilepsy (PSE). A recent study in our laboratory (Kelly et al., 2018) using transient (3 h) unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) and common carotid artery (CCA) occlusion (MCA/CCAo) in 4- and 20-month-old Fischer (F344) rats resulted in epileptic seizures in both age groups; age and infarction factors independently had effects on seizure frequency. Read More

Neurodiagn J 2018 Nov 2:1-5. Epub 2018 Nov 2.

a Department of Neurology University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center , Oklahoma City , Oklahoma.

We report a case of a 47-year-old woman who presented with a 3-year history of paroxysmal events after suffering traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle accident. She had not previously been diagnosed with epilepsy. On video-EEG monitoring, she was found to have a right temporal seizure associated with ictal asystole lasting for 18 seconds. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2018 Dec 31;89:84-88. Epub 2018 Oct 31.

Brain Sentinel, San Antonio, TX, United States of America; University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States of America. Electronic address:

Objective: There is a high cost associated with recording quality video and electroencephalography (EEG) data in National Association of Epilepsy Center (NAEC) level IV epilepsy monitoring units (EMU). This study considers potential quality measures in EMUs for generalized tonic-clonic (GTC) seizures: types of safety signals, response time, and visibility of patient's limbs for semiology. These quality measures have been summarized across 12 EMUs to estimate response times to GTC seizures and the quality of video data that is captured during admissions. Read More

Clin Neurophysiol 2018 Dec 25;129(12):2534-2540. Epub 2018 Oct 25.

Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Stress Physiology Lab, University of Parma, Italy. Electronic address:

Objective: Seizures are frequently observed in neurological conditions affecting newborns. Since autonomic alterations are commonly associated with neonatal seizures (NS), we investigated the utility of heart rate variability (HRV) indexes of cardiac autonomic regulation for NS detection.

Methods: HRV analysis was conducted on ECG tracings recorded during video-EEG monitoring in newborns with NS and matched-controls. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2019 Jan;36(1):14-24

Neurologist and Epileptologist, Gleneagles Global Health City, Chennai, India.

Purpose: To design a non-patient-specific system to detect the electrical onset of seizures in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.

Methods: We used EEG data from 29 seizures of 18 temporal lobe epilepsy patients who underwent multiday video-scalp EEG monitoring as part of their presurgical evaluations. We segmented each data set into preictal and ictal phases, and identified spectral entropy, spectral energy, and signal energy as useful features for discriminating normal and seizure conditions. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Oct;20(5):413-417

Epilepsy Center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Centre, Cleveland, USA, Center for SUDEP Research.

STX1B is a gene that encodes syntaxin-1B. STX1B mutations have recently been implicated in fever-associated epilepsy syndromes. However, these have not previously been reported in sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy. Read More

J Clin Neurosci 2018 Dec 13;58:201-203. Epub 2018 Oct 13.

Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States.

Ictal gaze deviation and oculogyric crisis (OGC) can show identical clinical manifestations. We report a case of repeated drug induced OGCs in a 38 year old patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. He was referred to our center for treatment of "intractable" epilepsy manifesting as episodic eye and head deviations with apparent unresponsiveness. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 26;9:793. Epub 2018 Sep 26.

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States.

Seizure-related autonomic dysregulation occurs in epilepsy patients and may contribute to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). We tested how different types of seizures affect baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and heart rate variability (HRV). We hypothesized that BRS and HRV would be reduced after bilateral convulsive seizures (BCS). Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2018 Nov 3;88:189-204. Epub 2018 Oct 3.

Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Pharmacy, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany; Center for Systems Neuroscience, Hannover, Germany. Electronic address:

Intracerebral infection of C57BL/6 mice with Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) replicates many features of viral encephalitis-induced epilepsy in humans, including neuroinflammation, early (insult-associated) and late (spontaneous) seizures, neurodegeneration in the hippocampus, and cognitive and behavioral alterations. Thus, this model may be ideally suited to study mechanisms involved in encephalitis-induced epilepsy as potential targets for epilepsy prevention. However, spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) occur too infrequently to be useful as a biomarker of epilepsy, e. Read More

J Clin Neurophysiol 2019 Jan;36(1):9-13

Departments of Pediatrics and Neurosciences, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, University of California, San Diego, California.

Purpose: Continuous video electroencephalography (cEEG) monitoring is the recommended gold standard of care for at-risk neonates but is not available in many Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). To conduct a randomized treatment trial of levetiracetam for the first-line treatment of neonatal seizures (the NEOLEV2 trial), we developed a monitoring infrastructure at five NICUs, implementing recent technological advancements to provide continuous video EEG monitoring and real-time response to seizure detection. Here, we report on the feasibility of providing this level of care. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2018 Nov 1;88:365-372. Epub 2018 Oct 1.

Epilepsy Center, University of Freiburg, Breisacher Strasse 64, 79106 Freiburg, Germany.

Background: People with epilepsy (PWE) are frequently unable to recall the core manifestation of their disease, epileptic seizures. This limits their understanding of disease severity and social reactions to it.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of video presentation (VP) of one's own seizure and the role of seizure type/severity. Read More

J Neurosci Methods 2019 Jan 26;311:408-417. Epub 2018 Sep 26.

School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, United States; Department of Neurology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH 03756, United States.

Background: Electrocorticography studies are typically conducted in patients undergoing video EEG monitoring, but these studies are subject to confounds such as the effects of pain, recent anesthesia, analgesics, drug changes, antibiotics, and implant effects.

New Method: Techniques were developed to obtain electrocorticographic (ECoG) data from freely moving subjects performing navigational tasks using the RNS System (NeuroPace, Inc., Mountain View, CA), a brain-responsive neurostimulation medical device used to treat focal onset epilepsy, and to align data from the RNS System with cognitive task events with high precision. Read More

Curr Treat Options Neurol 2018 Sep 27;20(11):47. Epub 2018 Sep 27.

UAB Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1719 6th Avenue South, 312 CIRC, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.

Purpose Of Review: There is a known interrelationship between sleep and epilepsy. This review highlights the recent findings regarding interactions between sleep and circadian rhythms and the manifestations of epilepsy and surgical treatments for refractory epilepsy.

Recent Findings: CLOCK gene expression may be reduced within the epileptogenic focus in patients with refractory epilepsy. Read More

Neurodiagn J 2018 ;58(3):164-173

a Neurodiagnostic Laboratory Duke University Medical Center , Durham , North Carolina.

Subtemporal electrode chains are part of the international 10-10 system. Since 2012, they have been routinely used at our institution in adult patients with intractable epilepsy who are undergoing video EEG evaluation for epilepsy surgery. In 2016, this was extended to the pediatric population. Read More

Acta Neurol Scand 2019 Feb 11;139(2):199-203. Epub 2018 Oct 11.

Medical Sciences Post-graduate Program, Federal University of Santa Catarina, (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil.

Objectives: To investigate the significance of "subtherapeutic" vs "therapeutic" antiepileptic drug (AED) plasma levels with respect to treatment adherence.

Material And Methods: One hundred and seventy patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy who underwent video-EEG monitoring in view of a surgical indication had their AEDs (carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, and valproate) rapidly withdrawn following a standardized schedule. Plasma levels were measured at admission, and during the 2 days of drug withdrawal. Read More

Epilepsy Res 2018 11 8;147:42-50. Epub 2018 Sep 8.

Oscar Langendorff Institute of Physiology, Rostock University Medical Centre, Rostock, Germany. Electronic address:

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common epileptic syndrome in adults and often presents with seizures that prove intractable with currently available anticonvulsants. Thus, there is still a need for new anti-seizure drugs in this condition. Recently, we found that the casein kinase 2 inhibitor 4,5,6,7-tetrabromotriazole (TBB) prevented the emergence of spontaneous epileptic discharges in an acute in vitro epilepsy model. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2018 Nov 10;88:5-14. Epub 2018 Sep 10.

Institute of Synergetics and Psychotherapy Research, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.

Background: Admission to the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) for long-term video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring (VEEG) constitutes the gold standard for seizure diagnosis and presurgical evaluation. This study applied the concept of a high-frequency systematic monitoring of psychological states and tested patients' compliance in order to evaluate if its integration in the EMU is feasible and if patients benefit from the graphically underpinned discussion of their EMU stay-related cognitions and emotions.

Methods: The process-monitoring is technically realized by an internet-based device for data collection and data analysis, the Synergetic Navigation System (SNS). Read More

Front Cell Neurosci 2018 28;12:266. Epub 2018 Aug 28.

Department of Developmental Epileptology, Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia.

Status epilepticus (SE), especially in immature animals, is known to produce recurrent spontaneous seizures and behavioral comorbidities later in life. The cause of these adverse long-term outcomes is unknown, but it has been hypothesized that free radicals produced by SE may play a role. We tested this hypothesis by treating immature (P25) rats with the free radical scavenger N-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone (PBN) at the time of lithium chloride (LiCl)/pilocarpine (PILO)-induced SE. Read More