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Review article
Frontal lobe epilepsy
Christoph Kellinghaus, Hans O. Lüders
presentation of the seizures includes contralateral clonic movements, uni‐ or bilateral tonic motor activity as well as complex automatism. The yield of surface EEG may be limited due to the difficulty in detection of mesial or basal foci, and the patient may be misdiagnosed as having non‐epileptic events. In addition, in patients with mesial frontal foci the epileptiform discharges may be mislateralized (“paradoxical lateralization”). Therefore, epilepsy surgery has been commonly considered as less promising in patients with frontal lobe epilepsy. However, the advent of sophisticated neuroimaging techniques, particularly MRI with epilepsy‐specific sequences, has made it possible to delineate the epileptogenic lesion and detect a specific etiology, in an increasing number of patients. Thus, the success rate of epilepsy surgery in frontal lobe epilepsy is currently comparable to temporal lobe epilepsy, if the candidates are carefully selected. Patients with frontal lobe epilepsy who do not respond to anticonvulsive medication, and who are not eligible for epilepsy surgery may benefit from alternative approaches such as electrical brain stimulation.
Original article
Ictal kissing and religious speech in a patient with right temporal lobe epilepsy
Çiğdem Özkara, Hüseyin Sarý, Lütfü Hanoğlu, Naz Yeni, İbrahim Aydoğdu, Emin Özyurt
behavior. Presurgical evaluation revealed a right-sided, mesial temporal focus and hippocampal sclerosis on MRI. After selective amygdalohippocampectomy, she has only occasional auras. Her rare and peculiar ictal manifestations are discussed in the context of semiology and pathogenesis. [Published with videosequences]
Ictal and interictal perfusion variations measured by SISCOM analysis in typical childhood absence seizures
Astrid Nehlig, Maria‐Paola Valenti, Anne Thiriaux, Edouard Hirsch, Christian Marescaux, Izzie J. Namer
In the present study, we used the SISCOM procedure, which represents the fusion of MRI and ictal‐interictal difference SPECT images using
<sup>99m</sup>Tc‐ECD, to study cerebral blood flow changes during the ictal and postictal phases of typical childhood absence seizures. The study was performed on four children with typical, difficult to treat absence seizures, aged 10‐13 years at the time of scan. The delay between the onset of absence seizures and the injection of
<sup>99m</sup>Tc‐ECD was carefully noted. One scan was performed during the ictal phase and showed diffuse blood flow decreases, while the three other scans performed during the postictal phase, showed generalized blood flow increase. These data are consistent with most previous data reporting generalized changes in functional activity, not limited to the thalamo‐cortical circuit in which absence seizures originate, and a decrease in cerebral blood flow during the ictal phase. Our data are concordant with the hypothesis that neuronal activity underlying the occurrence of spike‐and‐wave discharges does not seem to require an increase in metabolic demand and blood flow rates. [Published with videosequences]
The choice of antiepileptic drugs in newly diagnosed epilepsy: a national French survey
Franck Semah, Marie-Christine Picot, Philippe Derambure, Sophie Dupont, Laurent Vercueil, Serge Chassagnon, Cécile Marchal, Pierre Thomas, Philippe Ryvlin
evaluated according to the epileptic syndromes, and adjusted to the sex and age of the patient. Unfortunately, very few studies have been conducted based on these latter criteria. We conducted a survey on the management of epilepsy treatment in adults. This survey was undertaken in France, and led to the establishment of a French consensus on antiepileptic drug treatment in adult patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy. Patients were grouped into 18 categories according to the epileptic syndrome (absence epilepsy, juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, undetermined idiopathic generalized epilepsy, symptomatic or cryptogenic partial epilepsy and unclassified epilepsy), and to the patient’s gender and age. Our survey suggests that there is a consensus among French epileptologists for the choice of AEDs, mainly based on the epilepsy syndrome. Gender also plays a crucial role. Sodium valproate and lamotrigine are the two drugs of choice for generalized epilepsies, as well as for undetermined epilepsies. Lamotrigine is often prefered for women of childbearing age. First line AEDs in partial epilepsy are carbamazepine (particularly for men), lamotrigine (particularly for women), and gabapentin (in the elderly). In cases of failure and/or intolerance to one of these AED, the principal alternatives are oxcarbazepine, sodium valproate and topiramate.
Efficacy and tolerability of zonisamide in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy
Sanjeev V Kothare, Ignacio Valencia, Divya S Khurana, Huntley Hardison, Joseph J Melvin, Agustin Legido
study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of zonisamide (ZNS) in the treatment of JME. We retrospectively analyzed the records of 15 patients (three M, 12 F, ages 11-20 years) diagnosed with JME at our institution during 2001-2003, and treated with ZNS. Generalized tonic-clonic (GTC), myoclonic and absence seizure response was assessed. The ZNS dose range was 200-500 mg/day (2.0-8.5 mg/kg/day). ZNS was started as the first drug, and as monotherapy, in 13 and was added to VPA in two patients. Follow-up range was 2-24 months (mean 12 months). Overall, 80% of patients on ZNS monotherapy showed good control (≥ 50% seizure reduction). Sixty-nine, 62 and 38% of patients were free of GTC, myoclonic, and absence seizures, respectively. Seizure control was achieved within four to eight weeks of attaining the maintenance dose. One patient on polytherapy had a 75% reduction in seizure frequency, whereas the other patient showed no response. There were no ZNS-VPA interactions. One patient stopped ZNS and was switched to VPA because of poor seizure control. Three patients (20%) experienced side effects (weight loss, headache, dizziness) during escalation, which resolved during maintenance. In this open-label, retrospective study, ZNS was shown to be an effective and well-tolerated drug in the treatment of patients with JME. The ease of titration, good safety profile, once-a-day dosing, lack of significant drug interaction, and short latency for onset of efficacy make ZNS an attractive therapeutic alternative for the treatment of JME.
Induction of epileptic negative myoclonus by oxcarbazepine in symptomatic epilepsy
Andreas Hahn, Anke Fischenbeck, Ulrich Stephani
of the latter seizure types by oxcarbazepine (OXC) is not described in the literature. We report a four year-old boy with symptomatic epilepsy caused by left-sided cerebral atrophy of unknown origin who developed numerous daily drop attacks when exposed to OXC. Polygraphic analysis revealed secondary generalised precentral sharp-slow waves frequently associated with a silent period lasting for 100-150 ms in the electromyogram recorded from the deltoid and neck muscles. These seizures stopped promptly within 36 hours after discontinuation of OXC. This case demonstrates that OXC, similar to CBZ, can provoke epileptic negative myoclonus in some children with focal epilepsies. [Published with videosequences]
Psychometric validation of the French version of the quality of life in epilepsy inventory (QOLIE-31): Comparison with a generi
Marie-Christine Picot, Arielle Crespel, Jean-Pierre Daurès, Michel Baldy-Moulinier, Abdelkader EL Hasnaoui
quality of life questionnaire, the Nottingham health profile (NHP). The psychometric properties of QOLIE-31, assessed in 190 adults with epilepsy, included: acceptability, test-retest reliability and validity (multi-trait analysis including internal consistency and item-to-scale correlations, construct validity using factor analysis, discriminative validity using relationship with disease characteristics, treatment effects, divergent and convergent validity using correlations with NHP scores). Both acceptability and reproducibility were good and internal consistency was high (Cronbach’s α coefficient = 0.86). Factor analysis with varimax rotation identified seven factors with eigenvalues > 1, with two factors, related to cognitive function and mood, accounting for 46.5% of the variance. However, goodness of fit indices revealed that a model with four factors best fitted the data. The first factor corresponds to a generic mental dimension, the second is equivalent to the cognitive functioning dimension, the third to medication effects including social functioning, and the fourth to seizure worry. Discriminative validity was good for seizure control and treatment tolerability. Hight correlations between QOLIE-31 and pertinent NHP scales (emotional reactions, energy and social isolation) were observed. The French version of QOLIE-31 thus meets established psychometric criteria for reliability and validity.
Video case report
Video-EEG study in an adult and a child with eyelid myoclonia with absences
JG Burneo, S Miller, EM Bebin, A Prasad
of clinical seizures only with daylight, and in another the presence of rare, focal, epileptiform discharges during drowsiness. Valproic acid only partially controlled eyelid myoclonia in both cases. Lamotrigine, alone or in combination with valproate, can be used as an alternative but was ineffective in our cases. [Published with video sequences].
Chess-playing epilepsy: a case report with video-EEG and back averaging
MW Mann, B Gueguen, S Guillou, E Debrand, C Soufflet
strategy, to choose between two solutions or while raising the arm to move a chess figure. Video-EEG-polygraphy was performed, with back averaging of the myoclonus registered during a chess match and during neuropsychological testing with Kohs cubes. The EEG spike wave complexes were localised in the fronto-central region. [Published with video sequences]
Book review
Aicardi’s Epilepsy in Children
Michael Duchowny
Aicardi’s Epilepsy in Children
Michael Duchowny
