Antiepileptic drug use and epileptic seizures in elderly nursing home residents: a survey in the province of Pavia, Northern Italy.

Some surveys indicate that elderly nursing home residents are extensively prescribed antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Few studies have evaluated the prevalence of seizure-related diagnoses as a risk factor for AED administration in nursing homes. To assess the prevalence of AED use and of epileptic seizures in the elderly nursing home residents in our country, we considered age and gender data, functional status (measured by the Barthel's Index), drugs currently administered on a scheduled basis, clinical diagnoses from the patient's chart including possible history of epileptic seizures, of all subjects aged 60 years and over living in 21 federated nursing homes in the province of Pavia, Northern Italy.

Obstructive sleep apnea in a clinical series of adult epilepsy patients: frequency and features of the comorbidity.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the rate and features of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adult epilepsy patients.

Methods: Two hundred eighty-three adult epilepsy patients (137 men; mean age, 33 years; range, 18-70 years) were prospectively screened for OSA by means of a structured interview. Those in whom OSA was clinically suspected were monitored for a full night by using a portable device (Polymesam), and OSA was diagnosed when they had an Apnea/Hypopnea Index greater than five.

Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, alone or epilepsy-associated, share a psychological profile distinct from that of epilepsy patients.

The aim of this study was twofold: 1 - to identify a psychological profile of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) that is possibly distinct from that of subjects affected by epileptic seizures (ESs) alone; 2 - to detect the possible differences between the clinical features and psychological profile of patients affected by PNESs alone and those of subjects in whom PNESs are associated with epileptic seizures (ES/PNES patients). We assessed the psychological profiles of 2 different groups of subjects. The first group was of 38 patients who had all developed PNESs after epileptic seizures (ES\PNES, group 1).