Epilepsy & behavior : E&B
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Dec 2013
Validation of the Greek version of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E).
The Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E) was developed as a screening tool for symptoms of major depressive episodes in people with epilepsy. Our study describes the development, validation, and psychometric properties of the Greek version of the NDDI-E. A consecutive sample of 101 patients with epilepsy, eligible to participate in the study, has been assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview version 5.0.0 and the NDDI-E. ⋯ Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.74. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed an area under the curve of 91% (95% CI=83%-99%; SE: 0.040, p<0.001). At a cutoff score of greater than 15, the NDDI-E showed a sensitivity of 91%, a specificity of 81%, and a negative predictive value of 97%.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Dec 2013
Alterations in functional connectivity between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex as a correlate of depressive symptoms in temporal lobe epilepsy.
Depression is a common comorbidity in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) that is thought to have a neurobiological basis. This study investigated the functional connectivity (FC) of medial temporal networks in depression symptomatology of TLE and the relative contribution of structural versus FC measures. Volumetric MRI and functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI) were performed on nineteen patients with TLE and 20 controls. ⋯ Frontolimbic network dysfunction is a strong contributor to levels of depressive symptoms in TLE and a better contributor than HA in LTLE. In addition, the right amygdala may play a role in depression symptomatology regardless of the side of the epileptogenic focus. These findings may inform the treatment of depressive symptoms in TLE and inspire future research to help guide surgical planning.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Dec 2013
Report of a parent survey of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis use in pediatric treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Severe childhood epilepsies are characterized by frequent seizures, neurodevelopmental delays, and impaired quality of life. In these treatment-resistant epilepsies, families often seek alternative treatments. This survey explored the use of cannabidiol-enriched cannabis in children with treatment-resistant epilepsy. ⋯ Because of the increasing number of states that allow access to medical cannabis, its use will likely be a growing concern for the epilepsy community. Safety and tolerability data for cannabidiol-enriched cannabis use among children are not available. Objective measurements of a standardized preparation of pure cannabidiol are needed to determine whether it is safe, well tolerated, and efficacious at controlling seizures in this pediatric population with difficult-to-treat seizures.
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Epilepsy & behavior : E&B · Dec 2013
Validating a natural language processing tool to exclude psychogenic nonepileptic seizures in electronic medical record-based epilepsy research.
As electronic health record (EHR) systems become more available, they will serve as an important resource for collecting epidemiologic data in epilepsy research. However, since clinicians do not have a systematic method for coding psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), patients with PNES are often misclassified as having epilepsy, leading to sampling error. This study validates a natural language processing (NLP) tool that uses linguistic information to help identify patients with PNES. ⋯ Our study demonstrates that the YTEX NLP tool and classifier is highly accurate in excluding PNES, diagnosed with VEEG, in EHR systems. The tool may be very valuable in preventing false positive identification of patients with epilepsy in EHR-based epidemiologic research.