Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Seizure 2018 Dec 7;69:57-60. Epub 2018 Dec 7.

Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States.

Purpose: Ictal semiology complements ictal EEG in identifying the likely epileptogenic zone. Ictal turning prone (ITP) with body turning of 90 ° or more can be seen with frontal lobe epilepsies. The aim of our study was to evaluate the localizing value of ITP in a general population of patients undergoing long term video-EEG monitoring. Read More

Dev Med Child Neurol 2019 Mar 4. Epub 2019 Mar 4.

PCO, Adelphi Values Ltd, Bollington, UK.

Aim: To assess the relevance and generalizability across countries of concepts of the impact of Dravet syndrome beyond seizures, as recognized by families.

Method: Caregivers of children with Dravet syndrome in four countries (Australia [n=8]; USA, UK, and Italy [all n=4]) participated in 1-hour qualitative telephone interviews, identifying key Dravet syndrome concepts. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and, where necessary, translated into English for thematic analysis. Read More

Rev Neurol (Paris) 2019 Mar 1;175(3):157-162. Epub 2019 Mar 1.

Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, CRMBM, 13385 Marseille, France; AP-HM, University Hospital Timone, CEMEREM, 13385 Marseille, France.

Comparison studies between 7T and 1.5 or 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have demonstrated the added value of ultra-high field (UHF) MRI to better identify, delineate and characterize malformations of cortical development (MCD), and to disambiguate doubtful findings observed at lower field strengths. High resolution structural sequences such as magnetization prepared two rapid acquisition gradient echoes (MP2RAGE), fluid and white matter suppression MP2RAGE (FLAWS), and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) appear to be key to the improvement of MCD diagnosis in clinical practice. Read More

Nat Commun 2019 02 27;10(1):971. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, 13005, France.

The hippocampus and amygdala are key brain structures of the medial temporal lobe, involved in cognitive and emotional processes as well as pathological states such as epilepsy. Despite their importance, it is still unclear whether their  neural activity can be recorded non-invasively. Here, using simultaneous intracerebral and magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings in patients with focal drug-resistant epilepsy, we demonstrate a direct contribution of amygdala and hippocampal activity to surface MEG recordings. Read More

PLoS Comput Biol 2019 02 25;15(2):e1006805. Epub 2019 Feb 25.

Aix Marseille Université, Inserm, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, UMR_S 1106, 13005, Marseille, France.

Information transmission in the human brain is a fundamentally dynamic network process. In partial epilepsy, this process is perturbed and highly synchronous seizures originate in a local network, the so-called epileptogenic zone (EZ), before recruiting other close or distant brain regions. We studied patient-specific brain network models of 15 drug-resistant epilepsy patients with implanted stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) electrodes. Read More

eNeuro 2019 Jan-Feb;6(1). Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Functional Brain Mapping Laboratory, Department of Fundamental Neuroscience, University of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.

Large-scale slow oscillations allow the integration of neuronal activity across brain regions during sensory or cognitive processing. However, evidence that this form of coding also holds for pathological networks, such as for distributed networks in epileptic disorders, does not yet exist. Here, we show in a mouse model of unilateral hippocampal epilepsy that epileptic fast ripples generated in the neocortex distant from the primary focus occur during transient trains of interictal epileptic discharges. Read More

Seizure 2019 Mar 8;66:31-35. Epub 2019 Feb 8.

Epilepsy Unit, Neurology Department, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address:

Purpose: Late-onset non-lesional focal epilepsy, defined as new-onset seizures in patients older than 60 years, is diagnosed increasingly more often in relation to aging of the population. It has been attributed mainly to occult cerebral small vessel disease (SVD), although high levels of evidence to support this notion are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the burden of leukoaraiosis, a marker of cerebral SVD, and hippocampal atrophy in patients with late-onset epilepsy (LOE). Read More

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2019 Apr 30;119:183-184. Epub 2019 Jan 30.

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Centro Hospitalar Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, Unidade 1, Serviço de Otorrinolaringologia, Pavilhão Feminino, Rua Conceição Fernandes, 4434-502, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

The authors present the case of a 5-year-old girl referred to our institution due to several episodes of nocturnal stridor with ocular retroversion and parental notion of apnea. She has been previously submitted to adenotonsillectomy. Due to symptoms worsening she was referred to our hospital. Read More

Med Clin North Am 2019 Mar 3;103(2):309-324. Epub 2018 Dec 3.

Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 600 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. Electronic address:

Epilepsy affects 65 million people worldwide, and is a leading neurologic cause of loss of quality-adjusted life years. The diagnosis of seizures and epilepsy often depends on a careful history, and is supported with electroencephalogram and imaging. First-line treatment of epilepsy includes medical management. Read More

BMC Neurol 2019 Jan 22;19(1):13. Epub 2019 Jan 22.

Department of Pharmacy, Shandong Provincial Hospital affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China.

Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic disabling neurologic diseases. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether there is an association between t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator, rs2020918 and rs4646972), PAI-1 (plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, rs1799768) polymorphisms and susceptibility to temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) in Chinese Han population.

Method: One hundred and twenty-one cases of patients who were diagnosed as TLE and 146 normal controls were enrolled and the genotypes of t-PA and PAI-1 were detected by polymerase chain reaction-ligase detection reaction (PCR-LDR) method after the genomic DNA being extracted from peripheral blood. Read More

Medicine (Baltimore) 2019 Jan;98(3):e14185

Department of Neurology, Department of Neurology and Neuroscience Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, 71, Xinmin Street, Changchun, P. R. China.

Rationale: The diagnosis of myoclonic epilepsy and the classification of generalized or partial type may be challenging, especially when the scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) is normal. In such situation, how to apply another electrophysiological technique to begin the diagnosis and classification? The utility of Jerk-locked back averaging technique has been described in our case.

Patient Concerns: A Chinese patient (male, 21 years old) presented with frequent unilateral or bilateral shoulder-jerking. Read More

Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi 2019 Jan;99(1):14-19

Department of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China.

To investigate the value of morphometric analysis program (MAP) combined with magnetoencephalogram (MEG) in the localization of epileptogenic foci in MRI-negative pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy (MNPFE) patients. A total of 42 consecutive MNPFE patients from Epilepsy center, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2015 to December 2016 were enrolled. The analysis process of MAP and magnetoencephalography (MEG) were performed independently. Read More

Epilepsy Res 2019 02 7;150:38-45. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

INSERM U1129, Paris, France; Paris Descartes University, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France; Service de Pharmacologie, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, 20 rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris, France. Electronic address:

Vigabatrin is indicated as adjunctive therapy for refractory focal seizures. For children, European recommendations indicate maintenance doses varying from 30 to 100 mg/kg/day for this indication. Since cumulated dose was associated with retinal toxicity, it is essential to administrate the lowest effective dose to patients. Read More

Neuropsychobiology 2019 9;77(2):101-109. Epub 2019 Jan 9.

Department of Psychiatry, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan.

Objectives: eLORETA (exact low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography) is a technique created by Pascual-Marqui et al. [Int J Psychophysiol. 1994 Oct; 18(1): 49-65] for the 3-dimensional representation of current source density in the brain by electroencephalography (EEG) data. Read More

Seizure 2019 Feb 20;65:65-71. Epub 2018 Dec 20.

Department of Mater Advanced Epilepsy Unit, Mater Centre for Neurosciences, Brisbane, Australia.

Purpose: The recent explosion of artificial intelligence techniques in video analytics has highlighted the clinical relevance in capturing and quantifying semiology during epileptic seizures; however, we lack an automated anomaly identification system for aberrant behaviors. In this paper, we describe a novel system that is trained with known clinical manifestations from patients with mesial temporal and extra-temporal lobe epilepsy and presents aberrant semiology to physicians.

Methods: We propose a simple end-to-end-architecture based on convolutional and recurrent neural networks to extract spatiotemporal representations and to create motion capture libraries from 119 seizures of 28 patients. Read More

BMC Neurol 2019 Jan 3;19(1). Epub 2019 Jan 3.

Department of Internal Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Background: Several neuroimaging studies have reported neurophysiological alterations in patients with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS). However, reported outcomes have been inconsistent, and the progression of these changes in the brain remains unresolved. Moreover, background electroencephalography (EEG) in cases of BCECTS has not been performed often. Read More

J Affect Disord 2019 03 24;246:452-457. Epub 2018 Dec 24.

Centro de Epilepsia de Santa Catarina (CEPESC), Hospital Universitário (HU), Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, SC, Brazil; Centro de Neurociências Aplicadas (CeNAp), HU, UFSC, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil; Serviço de Neurologia, HU-UFSC, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil; Departamento de Clínica Médica, HU-UFSC, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.

Background: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) is the most prevalent type of surgically remediable epilepsy and highly associated with psychiatric comorbidities. This study aimed to evaluate Hospital anxiety and depression scale-anxiety subscale (HADS-A) and The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - Trait subscale (STAI-T) accuracy for detection of anxiety disorders in patients with drug-resistant MTLE-HS.

Methods: One hundred three consecutive patients with drug-resistant MTLE-HS were enrolled. Read More

PLoS Genet 2018 12 26;14(12):e1007535. Epub 2018 Dec 26.

Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, Australia.

The contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene is a member of the neurexin superfamily. CNTNAP2 was first implicated in the cortical dysplasia-focal epilepsy (CDFE) syndrome, a recessive disease characterized by intellectual disability, epilepsy, language impairments and autistic features. Associated SNPs and heterozygous deletions in CNTNAP2 were subsequently reported in autism, schizophrenia and other psychiatric or neurological disorders. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Mar 19;123:e753-e759. Epub 2018 Dec 19.

Brain Institute, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea; Department of Neurosurgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. Electronic address:

Background: Most surgical treatments for medically intractable temporal lobe epilepsy are helpful. When a patient has persistent symptoms after surgery, there are no tests that accurately predict whether a patient will have remnant epileptic foci. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of magnetoencephalography (MEG) as a prognostic tool in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2019 Jan 18;90:162-167. Epub 2018 Dec 18.

Bakirkoy Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Neurology Department, Bakirkoy, 34147 Istanbul, Turkey.

Objectives: Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common form of partial epilepsies. Seizures of MTLE with hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS) are typically resistant to antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. Although memory disturbances in patients with MTLE-HS are expected, verbal attention and frontal lobe functions may also be impaired. Read More

Front Neurol 2018 30;9:995. Epub 2018 Nov 30.

American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.

To evaluate prospectively the frequency of epileptogenic lesions in a consecutive cohort of elderly patients presenting with new onset unprovoked seizures, and who underwent a complete evaluation including dedicated epilepsy protocol MRI. We included all consecutive patients 60 years or older who participated in a prospective study on new onset epilepsy. The work-up included the acquisition of a dedicated epilepsy protocol MRI and a 3 h video/EEG recording. Read More

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019 01 17;116(1):287-296. Epub 2018 Dec 17.

Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, TX 76502;

Medial ganglionic eminence (MGE)-like interneuron precursors derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are ideal for developing patient-specific cell therapy in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, their efficacy for alleviating spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS) or cognitive, memory, and mood impairments has never been tested in models of TLE. Through comprehensive video- electroencephalographic recordings and a battery of behavioral tests in a rat model, we demonstrate that grafting of hiPSC-derived MGE-like interneuron precursors into the hippocampus after status epilepticus (SE) greatly restrained SRS and alleviated cognitive, memory, and mood dysfunction in the chronic phase of TLE. Read More

Epilepsia 2019 Jan 7;60(1):20-32. Epub 2018 Dec 7.

INSERM Unit U1129 Infantile Epilepsies and Brain Plasticity, University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.

Objective: We aimed to characterize epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures (EIMFS), a rare, severe early onset developmental epilepsy related to KCNT1 mutation, and to define specific electroencephalography (EEG) markers using EEG quantitative analysis. The ultimate goal would be to improve early diagnosis and to better understand seizure onset and propagation of EIMFS as compared to other early onset developmental epilepsy.

Methods: EEG of 7 EIMFS patients with KCNT1 mutations (115 seizures) and 17 patients with other early onset epilepsies (30 seizures) was included in this study. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Dec;20(6):517-524

Istanbul University, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology.

The somatic marker hypothesis is an influential model of human decision-making postulating that somatic feedback to the brain enhances decision-making in ambiguous circumstances, i.e. when the probabilities of various outcomes are unknown. Read More

Seizure 2019 Jan 1;64:23-28. Epub 2018 Dec 1.

Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325015, PR China. Electronic address:

Purpose: This study is to compare the efficacy of substitution with add-on therapy in patients with focal epilepsy, whose first monotherapy has failed after receiving usual treatments.

Methods: This is a prospective, long-term, non-randomized observational cohort study. Data were collected from Wenzhou Epilepsy Follow Up Registry Database. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Mar 28;123:e338-e347. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Department of Neuropediatrics, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Objective: Multilobar resection in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-negative drug-resistant epilepsy warrants attention because they account for up to one third of MRI-negative epilepsy surgery. Despite their high prevalence, data are sparse, and the risk/benefit ratio continues to be debated. The present study investigated the postoperative seizure outcomes in this especially challenging subgroup. Read More

J Clin Neurosci 2019 Mar 27;61:269-271. Epub 2018 Nov 27.

Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, China.

Laughter induced in the insula is uncommon. In this case-report we present a description of a patient with drug-resistant focal epilepsy for whom laughter with mirth was elicited when the posterior insula (PI) was stimulated by intracranial electrodes. We attempted to analyze the progression of laughter in the insula and suggest a possible pathway for the expression of laughter. Read More

Seizure 2019 Jan 24;64:8-15. Epub 2018 Nov 24.

Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, United States; Neurology care line, VA Houston Medical Center, Houston, TX 77030, United States.

Purpose: To determine if simultaneous bilateral scalp EEG (scEEG) can accurately detect a contralateral seizure onset in patients with unilateral intracranial EEG (IEEG) implantation.

Methods: We evaluated 39 seizures from 9 patients with bitemporal epilepsy who underwent simultaneous scEEG and IEEG (SSIEEG). To simulate conditions of unilateral IEEG implantation with a missed contralateral seizure onset, we analyzed the IEEG recording contralateral to the seizure onset (CL- IEEG), in conjunction with simultaneous scEEG. Read More

Seizure 2019 Jan 22;64:1-5. Epub 2018 Nov 22.

Department of Neurology, University of Pécs, H-7623, Rét u. 2., Pécs, Hungary; PTE-MTA Clinical Neuroscience MR Research Group, H-7623, Rét u. 2, Hungary. Electronic address:

Purpose: To comprehensively analyze ictal piloerection (IP) in a large number of subjects.

Methods: We performed a systematic review on case report studies of patients diagnosed with IP (1929-2017) with additional cases included from the Department of Neurology of University of Pécs, the National Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, and Odense University Hospital. Each included case was characterized regarding patient history, IP seizure characteristics, diagnostic work-up, and therapy. Read More

Cell Physiol Biochem 2018 28;51(3):1399-1409. Epub 2018 Nov 28.

Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology Institute, Inner Mongolia University for the Nationalities, Tongliao,

Background/aims: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of adult localization-related epilepsy that is accompanied by progressive etiopathology and high incidences of drug resistance. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in fine-tuning gene expression, however, the expression profile and clinical significance of circRNAs in TLE remains unknown.

Methods: Circular RNA microarray was conducted to identify TLE-related circRNAs. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Feb 24;122:656-660. Epub 2018 Nov 24.

Department of Functional Neurosurgery, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Background: Bitemporal epilepsy (BTLE) is a specific anatomoelectroclinical phenotype in the spectrum of temporal lobe epilepsy. The diagnosis of BTLE and the evaluation of the degree of seizure lateralization in BTLE patients are greatly influenced by the duration of EEG recording and the number of recorded habitual seizures.

Case Description: A 25-year-old woman had a 5-year history of seizures. Read More

Neuroscience 2019 01 20;396:187-199. Epub 2018 Nov 20.

Department of Functional Neurosurgery, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuromodulation, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, Beijing 100050, China. Electronic address:

The molecular mechanisms underlying the development of epilepsy, i.e., epileptogenesis, are due to altered expression of a series of genes. Read More

Epilepsia 2018 12 19;59(12):2340-2341. Epub 2018 Nov 19.

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

J Clin Neurosci 2019 Jan 10;59:313-315. Epub 2018 Nov 10.

Department of Neurology, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.

Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) is a systemic disorder characterised by the pathologic deposition of immunoglobulin light chains, which is histologically distinguished from amyloidosis by failure to stain with Congo red. Central nervous system (CNS)-restricted LCDD is among the rarest manifestations. We describe a unique case complicated by focal onset epilepsy with impaired awareness for which control with anticonvulsant therapy proved difficult. Read More

Front Neurol Neurosci 2018 18;43:177-184. Epub 2018 Oct 18.

Machado de Assis (1839-1908) suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, probably with origin in the non-dominant hemisphere. The evidence for this is provided by the detailed reports of the characteristics of his seizures by his contemporaries and by his correspondence with other writers. He was treated with bromides and homeopathy. Read More

Seizure 2018 Dec 31;63:62-67. Epub 2018 Oct 31.

University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.

Purpose: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) may be an alternative to anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Visual field defects (VFD) occur in 9-100% of patients following open surgery for MTLE. Postoperative VFD after minimally invasive versus open surgery may differ. Read More

EBioMedicine 2018 Dec 2;38:127-141. Epub 2018 Nov 2.

Department of Physiology & Medical Physics, RCSI, Dublin, Ireland; FutureNeuro Research Centre, RCSI, Dublin, Ireland. Electronic address:

Background: There are no blood-based molecular biomarkers of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) to support clinical diagnosis. MicroRNAs are short noncoding RNAs with strong biomarker potential due to their cell-specific expression, mechanistic links to brain excitability, and stable detection in biofluids. Altered levels of circulating microRNAs have been reported in human epilepsy, but most studies collected samples from one clinical site, used a single profiling platform or conducted minimal validation. Read More

Glia 2018 12 5;66(12):2673-2683. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Neuron-glia interactions group, INSERM U1128, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.

Epilepsy is characterized by unpredictable recurrent seizures resulting from abnormal neuronal excitability. Increasing evidence indicates that aberrant astrocyte signaling to neurons plays an important role in driving the network hyperexcitability, but the underlying mechanism that alters glial signaling in epilepsy remains unknown. Increase in glutamate release by astrocytes participates in the onset and progression of seizures. Read More

Seizure 2018 Dec 15;63:14-16. Epub 2018 Oct 15.

National Epilepsy Center, NHO Shizuoka Institute of Epilepsy and Neurological Disorders, 886 Urushiyama, Aoi-ku, Shizuoka 420-8688, Japan. Electronic address:

Seizure 2018 Dec 17;63:1-6. Epub 2018 Sep 17.

Department of Neurology, Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Motol University Hospital, Czech Republic.

Purpose: Epileptic seizures are a common manifestation of autoimmune encephalitis, but the role of neural antibodies in long-term epilepsy remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of neural-surface antibodies (NSAbs) and antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) in patients with chronic temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).

Method: Patients with an electro-clinical diagnosis of TLE and a disease duration longer than one year were included. Read More

Epilepsia 2018 11;59(11):2162-2163

Child Neuropsychiatric Unit, Epilepsy Center, San Paolo Hospital, Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.

Chaos 2018 Oct;28(10):106322

Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has recently been implicated in the modulation of receptor activation leading to dynamic state transitions in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). In addition, the crucial role of neuronal noise in these transitions has been studied in electrophysiological experiments. However, the precise role of these factors during seizure generation in TLE is not known. 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

J Clin Neurosci 2019 Mar 28;61:307-310. Epub 2018 Oct 28.

Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, Japan.

Background: Epilepsy associated with neurocutaneous disorders is well known, and the prevalence of epilepsy among patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) ranges from 4% to 13%. However, epilepsy surgery for patients with NF1 is not commonly performed.

Case Description: We report the case of a patient with medically intractable mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) concomitant NF1 and moyamoya syndrome (MMS) who had already undergone bilateral superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery anastomosis at 17 years old. Read More

Neuroimage Clin 2018 10;20:1139-1147. Epub 2018 Oct 10.

Department of Neurology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Electronic address:

Objective: To provide a multi-atlas framework for automated hippocampus segmentation in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and clinically validate the results with respect to surgical lateralization and post-surgical outcome.

Methods: We retrospectively identified 47 TLE patients who underwent surgical resection and 12 healthy controls. T1-weighted 3 T MRI scans were acquired for all subjects, and patients were identified by a neuroradiologist with regards to lateralization and degree of hippocampal sclerosis (HS). Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Oct;20(5):346-363

Pediatric Neurosurgery, Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris.

Occipital epilepsy is the least common among surgical series because: (1) the location makes it hard to asses by EEG; (2) the seizure semiology often reflects propagation; and (3) surgery entails a high risk of neurological deficits. In children, subjective symptoms are harder to assess, adding to the difficulty of a proper diagnosis. We aimed to determine electroclinical characteristics of occipital lobe epilepsy in a paediatric population by reviewing 20 children between one and 16 years, who had undergone intracranial recordings with depth electrodes. Read More

No Shinkei Geka 2018 Oct;46(10):917-924

Department of Neurosurgery, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine.

In recent years, stereotactic electroencephalography(SEEG)has been focused on as a new invasive method for epileptic focus detection. Although the covering area of the brain surface is smaller than the invasive estimation with subdural electrodes, SEEG can evaluate foci that are deeply seated, noncontiguous leaves, and/or bilateral hemispheres. In addition, SEEG can capture consecutive changes in seizure activity in three dimensions. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Oct;20(5):447-450

Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.

We report a patient with frontal lobe epilepsy due to a right frontal astrocytoma (WHO Grade III) in whom two ictal SPECTs (single photon emission tomography) were performed during two seizures with different semiology and different EEG seizure patterns. Subtraction of ictal and interictal SPECT showed right lateral frontal hyperperfusion during a left face clonic seizure, and right mesial fronto-polar hyperperfusion during a subclinical seizure. This report demonstrates that ictal SPECT may reflect different seizure semiology from the frontal lobe of the same individual and that simultaneous EEG is indispensable for the correct interpretation of SPECT in epilepsy. Read More

Epileptic Disord 2018 Oct;20(5):418-422

Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.

Pure ictal non-speech vocalisation occurs in frontal and temporal lobe epilepsies. Electrical stimulation of supplementary motor areas is reported to evoke vocalisation in selected patients. Here, we report a patient with focal epilepsy of the left anterior insula who had isolated monotonous vocalisation elicited by electrical stimulation of the left superior frontal gyrus. Read More

Seizure 2018 Nov 29;62:116-123. Epub 2018 Sep 29.

University of Bonn, Department of Epileptology, Germany.

Purpose: Epilepsy surgery can be a successful treatment option for temporal lobe epilepsy but there are concerns about accelerated memory decline in long-term follow-up.

Method: 161 adult operated (77 right, 84 left temporal resections) versus a heterogeneous group of 208 non-operated patients with focal epilepsies were consecutively recruited and re-evaluated focusing on memory, executive functions, and vocational outcome after follow-up intervals of >5 years (5-22 years, mean 8 ± 3 years).

Results: Major losses in the operated group manifest early, at one-year follow-up. Read More