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PLoS One 2022 13;17(5):e0268010. Epub 2022 May 13.

Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Small Animal Clinic, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Hessen, Germany.

Cats are known to be affected by hippocampal sclerosis, potentially causing antiseizure drug(s) resistance. In order to lay the foundation for a standardized, systematic classification and diagnosis of this pathology in cats, this prospective study aimed at evaluating normal reference values of cellular densities and the cytoarchitecture of the feline hippocampus. Three transverse sections (head, body and tail) of each left hippocampus were obtained from 17 non-epileptic cats of different brachycephalic and mesocephalic breeds and age classes (range: 3-17 years). Read More

Neurol India 2022 Mar-Apr;70(2):524-529

Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jabalpur, India.

Background: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy are subjected to standard temporal lobectomy wherever indicated. This is performed using a reverse question mark flap and a standard frontotemporal craniotomy. We describe the technique of minitemporal craniotomy (3 × 3cms) for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and analyze the clinical outcomes of patients operated using this approach. Read More

Chest 2022 May;161(5):e309-e312

Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Interdisciplinary Center for Sleep and Ventilatory Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.

Case Presentation: A 37-year-old male patient was referred to our sleep laboratory with suspected sleep-disordered breathing. His partner reported periods of breathing arrest accompanied by an odd expiratory noise during sleep, occurring on a near to weekly basis. The patient stated that he was able to sleep well, did not have excessive daytime sleepiness, and was not subjectively aware of any disordered breathing at night. Read More

Cell Death Dis 2022 May 5;13(5):437. Epub 2022 May 5.

Department of Neurology, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 1 Youyi Road, Chongqing, 400016, China.

Aberrantly synchronized neuronal discharges in the brain lead to epilepsy, a devastating neurological disease whose pathogenesis and mechanism are unclear. SAPAP3, a cytoskeletal protein expressed at high levels in the postsynaptic density (PSD) of excitatory synapses, has been well studied in the striatum, but the role of SAPAP3 in epilepsy remains elusive. In this study, we sought to investigate the molecular, cellular, electrophysiological and behavioral consequences of SAPAP3 perturbations in the mouse hippocampus. Read More

Iran J Child Neurol 2022 14;16(2):77-84. Epub 2022 Mar 14.

General Physician, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Objective: One-third of epilepsy of children is refractory, and this study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and adverse events of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in the treatment of refractory epilepsy of children.

Materials & Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, seizures frequency and side effects of 314 children aged 1-14 years with refractory epilepsy were referred to the Pediatric Neurology Clinic of Shahid Sadoughi Medical Sciences University, Yazd, Iran, and treated with levetiracetam for six months, were evaluated.

Results: We evaluated 142 girls and 172 boys with a mean age of 6. Read More

Commun Biol 2022 Apr 28;5(1):394. Epub 2022 Apr 28.

Department of Bioengineering, Electrical & Systems Engineering, Physics & Astronomy, Neurology, and Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Network control theory provides a framework by which neurophysiological dynamics of the brain can be modelled as a function of the structural connectome constructed from diffusion MRI. Average controllability describes the ability of a region to drive the brain to easy-to-reach neurophysiological states whilst modal controllability describes the ability of a region to drive the brain to difficult-to-reach states. In this study, we identify increases in mean average and modal controllability in children with drug-resistant epilepsy compared to healthy controls. Read More

eNeuro 2022 May-Jun;9(3). Epub 2022 May 9.

Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Hippocampal seizures are a defining feature of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Area CA1 of the hippocampus is commonly implicated in the generation of seizures, which may occur because of the activity of endogenous cell populations or of inputs from other regions within the hippocampal formation. Simultaneously observing activity at the cellular and network scales remains challenging. Read More

Neurology 2022 Apr 25. Epub 2022 Apr 25.

Department of Pediatrics, Emma Children's Hospital, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

We describe a neonate and a 14-month-old child presenting with seizures that were not (completely) controlled with anti-epileptic medications. There were no signs of infection and electrolytes and neuro-imaging were normal. In the neonate, pyridoxine was administered followed by cessation of seizures and a diagnosis of pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy (PDE-ALDH7A1, a neurometabolic disorder of lysine metabolism) was genetically confirmed. Read More

J Trop Pediatr 2022 Apr;68(3)

Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh 249203, India.

Background: In newly diagnosed neurocysticercosis (NCC) with seizures, the choice of anti-seizure medication (ASM) seems to be arbitrary due to a lack of comparative studies. Although oxcarbazepine (OXC) is often considered efficacious for focal seizures in NCC, due to adverse effects, newer ASMs like levetiracetam (LCM) and lacosamide are also being explored.

Methods: This study was performed by case record review of children with newly diagnosed solitary viable parenchymal NCC aged 4-18years who received lacosamide and OXC at least for 12 weeks between August 2019 and April 2021, from a prospective registry of a tertiary care teaching hospital in north India. Read More

Int J Mol Sci 2022 Apr 13;23(8). Epub 2022 Apr 13.

Sant Pau Memory Unit, Department of Neurology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Biomedical Research Institute Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08041 Barcelona, Spain.

Epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease (AD) incidence increases with age. There are reciprocal relationships between epilepsy and AD. Epilepsy is a risk factor for AD and, in turn, AD is an independent risk factor for developing epilepsy in old age, and abnormal AD biomarkers in PET and/or CSF are frequently found in late-onset epilepsies of unknown etiology. Read More

Medicina (Kaunas) 2022 Mar 26;58(4). Epub 2022 Mar 26.

Samsung Medical Center, Department of Neurology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06355, Korea.

In the present study, a detailed investigation of substructural volume change in the hippocampus (HC) and amygdala (AMG) was performed and the association with clinical features in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS) determined. The present study included 22 patients with left-sided TLE-HS (LTLE-HS) and 26 patients with right-sided TLE-HS (RTLE-HS). In addition, 28 healthy controls underwent high-resolution T2-weighted image (T2WI) and T1-weighted image (T1WI) MRI scanning. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2022 May 14;130:108678. Epub 2022 Apr 14.

Child Neurology Section, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States. Electronic address:

DEPDC5-related epilepsy, caused by pathogenic germline variants(with or without additional somatic variants in the brain) of DEPDC5 (Dishevelled, Egl-10 and Pleckstrin domain-containing protein 5) gene, is a newly discovered predominantly focal epilepsy linked to enhanced mTORC1 pathway. DEPDC5-related epilepsy includes several familial epilepsy syndromes, including familial focal epilepsy with variable foci (FFEVF) and rare sporadic nonlesional focal epilepsy. DEPDC5 has been identified as one of the more common epilepsy genes linked to infantile spasms and sudden unexpected death (SUDEP). Read More

Neurology 2022 05 15;98(19):e1902-e1912. Epub 2022 Apr 15.

From the Society for Epilepsy Research (A.H., C.G.B.); and Departments of Epileptology (Krankenhaus Mara) (C.G.B., J.L.H., P.G.) and Neurosurgery (Evangelisches Klinikum Bethel) (T.K.), Medical School, Bielefeld University, Germany.

Background And Objectives: Seizure outcome after extratemporal lobe epilepsy (exTLE) surgery has often been poorer than after temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery, but recent improvements in diagnostics and surgery may have changed this. Our aim was to analyze the changes in presurgical and surgical volumes and seizure outcome 2 years after surgery for patients with exTLE compared with those with TLE.

Methods: We performed a retrospective, single-center cohort study including patients from the Bethel presurgical-surgical-postsurgical database from 1990 to 2017. Read More

Seizure 2022 May 8;98:44-50. Epub 2022 Apr 8.

Department of Neurology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Ave, Lksd #3200, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.

Background: Versive seizures, consisting of forced, involuntary, sustained and unnatural turning of eyes and head toward one side, lateralize to the hemisphere contralateral to the direction of the eye and head turn. The characteristics of eye and head movements in version have been rarely and incompletely studied in spontaneous epileptic seizures as opposed to direct cortical stimulation studies.

Methods: We performed a single center retrospective analysis of a cohort of 28 patients with 43 seizures, who had been admitted to the adult epilepsy monitoring unit at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center between January 2009 and August 2020. Read More

PLoS Comput Biol 2022 04 13;18(4):e1010027. Epub 2022 Apr 13.

Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

The types of epileptiform activity occurring in the sclerotic hippocampus with highest incidence are interictal-like events (II) and periodic ictal spiking (PIS). These activities are classified according to their event rates, but it is still unclear if these rate differences are consequences of underlying physiological mechanisms. Identifying new and more specific information related to these two activities may bring insights to a better understanding about the epileptogenic process and new diagnosis. Read More

J Neurooncol 2022 May 9;157(3):551-559. Epub 2022 Apr 9.

Division of Neuro-Oncology, Dept. Neuroscience, University and City of Health and Science Hospital, Via Cherasco 15, 10126, Torino, Italy.

Purpose: Lacosamide (LCM) is a third-generation anti-seizure medication (ASM) approved for focal onset epilepsy in patients aged ≥ 4.378 Previous studies have reported an efficacy of LCM as add-on treatment in brain tumor-related epilepsy (BTRE). To date, there are no studies in the literature focusing on lacosamide used in monotherapy to treat BTRE. Read More

Seizure 2022 May 30;98:8-12. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Department of Clinical and Experiential Epilepsy, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

Valproate (VPA) is an effective treatment for epilepsy and also used in bipolar disorder. However, VPA is associated with a significant risk of birth defects and developmental disorders if used during pregnancy. This has led to the introduction of measures to reduce the use of valproate in women of childbearing potential such as the 'Prevent' pregnancy prevention program (PPP) and the completion of an annual risk acknowledgement form (ARAF). Read More

Continuum (Minneap Minn) 2022 04;28(2):483-499

Purpose Of Review: This article discusses the use of antiseizure medications in the treatment of focal and generalized epilepsies using an evidence-based approach.

Recent Findings: In recent years, several new antiseizure medications with differing mechanisms of action have been introduced in clinical practice, and their efficacy and safety has been evaluated in randomized controlled clinical trials. Currently, all antiseizure medications can prevent seizure occurrence, but they have no proven disease-modifying or antiepileptogenic effects in humans. Read More

Continuum (Minneap Minn) 2022 04;28(2):339-362

Purpose Of Review: This article reviews the clinical features, typical EEG findings, treatment, prognosis, and underlying molecular etiologies of the more common genetic epilepsy syndromes. Genetic generalized epilepsy, self-limited focal epilepsy of childhood, self-limited neonatal and infantile epilepsy, select developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, progressive myoclonus epilepsies, sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy, photosensitive occipital lobe epilepsy, and focal epilepsy with auditory features are discussed. Also reviewed are two familial epilepsy syndromes: genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus and familial focal epilepsy with variable foci. Read More

Nat Neurosci 2022 Apr 5;25(4):493-503. Epub 2022 Apr 5.

Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

The hippocampus is the most common seizure focus in people. In the hippocampus, aberrant neurogenesis plays a critical role in the initiation and progression of epilepsy in rodent models, but it is unknown whether this also holds true in humans. To address this question, we used immunofluorescence on control healthy hippocampus and surgical resections from mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE), plus neural stem-cell cultures and multi-electrode recordings of ex vivo hippocampal slices. Read More

Epilepsy Behav 2022 May 2;130:108679. Epub 2022 Apr 2.

Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Cohen Children's Medical Center, New Hyde Park, NY, USA. Electronic address:

Objective: We explored the efficacy and safety profile of cenobamate as an adjunctive therapy in patients with refractory focal-onset epilepsy in the pediatric population.

Methods: This was a retrospective, single-center study of cenobamate used as an adjunctive medication in pediatric patients with refractory focal-onset epilepsy . We measured seizure reduction, median reduction in seizure frequency, median dose, responder rate, and treatment-emergent adverse events. Read More

Brain 2022 Apr;145(3):e10-e12

Epilepsy Research Centre, Department of Medicine (Austin Health), The University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Australia.

Brain 2022 Apr;145(3):e13-e16

Institute of Neuroscience and Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University; Key Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Channelopathies of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education of China, Guangzhou 510260, China.

JAMA 2022 04;327(13):1269-1281

Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and Epilepsy Division, Department of Neurology, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.

Importance: Epilepsy affects approximately 65 million people worldwide. Persistent seizures are associated with a 20% to 40% risk of bodily injuries (eg, fractures, burns, concussions) over 12-month follow-up. The primary goal of epilepsy treatment is to eliminate seizures while minimizing adverse effects of antiseizure drugs (ASDs). Read More

Pharm Pat Anal 2022 Apr 4. Epub 2022 Apr 4.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UNT System College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.

Slack channels are sodium-activated potassium channels that are encoded by the gene. Several gain of function mutations have been linked to malignant migrating partial seizures of infancy. Quinidine is an anti-arrhythmic drug that functions as a moderately potent inhibitor of Slack channels; however, quinidine use is limited by its poor selectivity, safety and pharmacokinetic profile. Read More

Epilepsy Res 2022 May 30;182:106914. Epub 2022 Mar 30.

Department of Neurology, ⁎Neurosurgery and ̂ Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address:

Objective: To identify scalp EEG correlates of hippocampal spikes in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE).

Methods: We recorded scalp and intracranial EEG simultaneously in 20 consecutive surgical candidates with mTLE. Hippocampal spikes were identified from depth electrodes during the first hour of sleep on the first night of recording in the epilepsy monitoring unit, and their scalp EEG correlates were identified. Read More

Forensic Sci Int 2022 Mar 21;335:111277. Epub 2022 Mar 21.

Instituto de Química, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74690-900 Goiânia, GO, Brazil. Electronic address:

Scott test is a simple, rapid, and low-cost preliminary test used extensively to suggest the presence of cocaine in drug seizures due to the development of a blue color. However, the presence of cutting agents can compromise the test result and may suggest the presence of cocaine when the drug is absent. This study evaluated the frequency of these results and the spectral behavior and color development of false positive substances. Read More

Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2022 04 1;4:CD011412. Epub 2022 Apr 1.

Department of Health Data Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.

Background: This is an updated version of the original Cochrane Review published in 2017. Epilepsy is a common neurological condition with a worldwide prevalence of around 1%. Approximately 60% to 70% of people with epilepsy will achieve a longer-term remission from seizures, and most achieve that remission shortly after starting antiepileptic drug treatment. Read More

Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2022 03;26(6):1885-1896

Department of Pediatric Neurology, Adana City Training and Research Hospital, Adana, Turkey.

Objective: Benign childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BCECTS), otherwise known as benign rolandic epilepsy, is the most common focal epilepsy in childhood. This study aimed to evaluate the development and resolution of ESES in children with BCECTS and evaluate the clinical and electroencephalography (EEG) parameters associated with prognosis.

Patients And Methods: Resolution of ESES was defined as the reduction of the spike-wave index (SWI) to <50%. Read More

J Neurol Sci 2022 05 25;436:120237. Epub 2022 Mar 25.

Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, Australia. Electronic address:

Purpose: To investigate safety and visual-field changes in people with epilepsy undergoing multifocal Pupillographic Objective Perimetry (mfPOP).

Methods: 15 people with epilepsy and 15 controls underwent mfPOP in the context of routine clinical EEG testing. Safety measures comprised the proportion of participants developing an aura or seizure, a photoparoxysmal response, or increased epileptiform activity on their EEG during mfPOP. Read More