Epilepsy research
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Comparative Study
Patient-specific bivariate-synchrony-based seizure prediction for short prediction horizons.
This paper evaluates the patient-specific seizure prediction performance of pre-ictal changes in bivariate-synchrony between pairs of intracranial electroencephalographic (iEEG) signals within 15min of a seizure in patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy. Prediction horizons under 15min reduce the durations of warning times and should provide adequate time for a seizure control device to intervene. Long-term continuous iEEG was obtained from 6 patients. ⋯ Moreover, there were 9 seizures in each testing set which gives greater power to this cross-validation result, although the cross-validation was performed on the best channel pair selected by within-sample optimization for all seizures of the patient. Further validation with larger datasets from individual patients is needed. Improvements in prediction performance should be achievable through investigations of multivariate synchrony combined with non-linear classification methods.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
A comparison of pregabalin, lamotrigine, and placebo as adjunctive therapy in patients with refractory partial-onset seizures.
This study assessed the comparative efficacy of pregabalin for refractory partial seizures. ⋯ Pregabalin was demonstrated to be noninferior to lamotrigine in the treatment of refractory partial seizures. Overall conclusions were complicated by an unusually large and heterogeneous placebo response.
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Comparative Study
Efficacy and tolerability of high oral doses of levetiracetam in children with epilepsy.
Despite the advent of new antiepileptic drugs, many children continue to have refractory seizures. We sought to determine whether oral LEV is helpful in seizure control and tolerable at doses higher than 60mg/kg/day in the pediatric outpatient population. ⋯ Not only do some children tolerate high doses and serum levels of levetiracetam, but they may also benefit from them, suggesting that doses higher than 60mg/kg/day may be considered in children who partially respond to the lower doses.
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Epilepsy is a common disease of childhood, in which almost 25% of cases are resistant to common antiepileptic drugs. Uncontrolled epilepsy increases morbidity and mortality rates, adversely affects growth and development in these children and imposes heavy psychological stress and financial burdens on parents, health care and society, making it mandatory to find effective therapies for the condition. Our aim was to study the efficacy of levetiracetam, as an add-on therapy, in children suffering from refractory epilepsy. ⋯ Levetiracetam can be used as an effective add-on treatment in children with refractory epilepsy.
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The seizure network may be different between temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE+HS) and without HS (TLE-HS). Chronic seizure activity may alter the diffusion properties of a seizure network. The thalamus is known to have an anatomical connection to the medial temporal area and to play a role in seizure modulation. This study aimed to evaluate differences in thalamic changes between TLE+HS and TLE-HS with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). ⋯ Bilateral thalamic diffusion properties are altered in temporal lobe epilepsy. The presence of hippocampal sclerosis enhances the change ipsilaterally.