A case of acute functional hemispherotomy in a young woman with hemimegalencephaly and super-refractory status epilepticus.

Status epilepticus (SE) is a critical medical emergency that demands immediate and effective intervention. We report a unique case involving a 21-year-old woman with left hemimegalencephaly who was hospitalized for super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) that persisted for 8 weeks. Despite extensive treatment efforts including multiple anti-seizure medications, anesthetics, high-dose methylprednisolone, anakinra, magnesium infusion, and a ketogenic diet, her condition remained unchanged.

Norwegian population-based study of effectiveness of vagus nerve stimulation in patients with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies.

Objective: Evaluate the long-term efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in patients with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) compared with epilepsy patients without intellectual disability (ID).

Methods: Long-term outcomes from a Norwegian VNS quality registry are reported in 105 patients with DEEs (Lennox-Gastaut syndrome [LGS] n = 62; Dravet n = 16; Rett n = 9; other syndromes n = 18) were compared with 212 epilepsy patients without ID, with median follow-up of 88 and 72 months, respectively. Total seizure reduction was evaluated at 6, 12, 24, 36, and 60 months.

Temporal lobe epilepsy.

The temporal lobes are the part of the brain most likely to give rise to epileptic seizures. Seizures originating in the temporal lobes vary greatly in character; some may be so unusual that they are not even recognised as epileptic. For patients who have been diagnosed with hippocampal sclerosis and whose seizures cannot be controlled with drugs, epilepsy surgery may be a good treatment option.

ANT-DBS in epilepsy shows no effect on selected neuropsychiatric tests.

Objectives: Deep brain stimulation of the anterior thalamic nucleus (ANT-DBS) is an established option in treatment-resistant epilepsy and obtained FDA approval in 2018. Increased psychiatric comorbidity is well known in epilepsy. The main objective of this study was to investigate possible neuropsychiatric treatment-related changes in patients receiving ANT-DBS.

Cognitive change after DBS in refractory epilepsy: A randomized-controlled trial.

Objectives: Deep brain stimulation of the anterior thalamic nucleus (ANT-DBS) reduces seizure frequency in patients with refractory epilepsy. There are, however, few studies on treatment-related changes in cognitive functions. The main objective of this study was to investigate cognitive changes in patients receiving ANT-DBS.

Long-term outcome of posterior fossa medulloblastoma in patients surviving more than 20 years following primary treatment in childhood.

The aim of the study was to analyze the long-term outcome (>20 years) after treatment of posterior fossa medulloblastoma (MB) in childhood. We analyzed data from patients treated for posterior fossa MB between 1974 (introduction of the first international treatment protocol in Norway) and 1987 (when use of radiotherapy was abandoned in children under 4 years of age). Out of 47 children, 24 survived >20 years.

Direct visual targeting versus preset coordinates for ANT-DBS in epilepsy.

Objectives: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior thalamic nucleus (ANT) may be used against refractory focal epilepsy, but only two randomized double-blinded trials have been performed. The Oslo study was discontinued prematurely since reduction in seizure frequency was less than expected. The aim of the present study was to review the targeting used in the Oslo study and to identify the actual positions of the contacts used for stimulation.

Clinical, Radiological, and Demographic Details of Benign External Hydrocephalus: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Benign external hydrocephalus has an incidence of about 0.4 per 1000 live births. It affects infants and is characterized by an increasing head circumference and typical neuroimaging findings.

Quality of life and physician-reported developmental, cognitive, and social problems in children with benign external hydrocephalus-long-term follow-up.

Introduction: Benign external hydrocephalus (BEH) is characterized by too rapidly increasing head circumference in infants, combined with typical neuroimaging findings. Psychomotor developmental delay is typically seen during the first few years of life; after that, the children's development assumedly normalizes. However, little is known about the long-term effects of BEH.

Anterior thalamic deep brain stimulation in refractory epilepsy: A randomized, double-blinded study.

Objectives: The safety and effect on seizure frequency of anterior thalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation were studied in this prospective, randomized, double-blinded study. Patients were followed for 12 months. The first 6 months were blinded with regard to active stimulation or not.

Neurosurgical treatment of gangliogliomas in children and adolescents: long-term follow-up of a single-institution series of 32 patients.

Object: The object of this study was to delineate long-term results of the surgical treatment of pediatric tumors classified as ganglioglioma or gangliocytoma.

Methods: A cohort of consecutive patients 19 years or younger who had undergone primary resection of CNS tumors during the years 1980-2016 at a single institution were reviewed in this retrospective study of surgical morbidity, mortality, and academic achievement and/or work participation. Gross motor function and activities of daily living were scored using the Barthel Index (BI).

Epidemiology of Benign External Hydrocephalus in Norway-A Population-Based Study.

Background: Benign external hydrocephalus is defined as a rapidly increasing head circumference (occipitofrontal circumference) with characteristic radiological findings of increased subarachnoid cerebrospinal fluid spaces on neuroimaging. The incidence of benign external hydrocephalus has not been previously reported, and there is no available information on the ratio of benign external hydrocephalus in the population of hydrocephalic children.

Methods: This study is retrospective and population-based study, geographically covering two health regions in the southern half of Norway with a total mean population of 3.

Use of advanced therapies for Parkinson's disease in Norway.

Background: Many patients with Parkinson’s disease with severe motor fluctuations benefit from advanced therapies – either deep brain stimulation or continuous infusion therapy with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel or apomorphine. In Norway, deep brain stimulation is provided as a shared national or multi-regional service. The treatment is currently available at Oslo University Hospital and St.

Seizure outcomes of temporal lobe epilepsy surgery in patients with normal MRI and without specific histopathology.

Background: Seizure outcome following surgery in pharmacoresistant temporal lobe epilepsy patients with normal magnetic resonance imaging and normal or non-specific histopathology is not sufficiently presented in the literature.

Methods: In a retrospective design, we reviewed data of 263 patients who had undergone temporal lobe epilepsy surgery and identified 26 (9.9%) who met the inclusion criteria.

Neurocognitive and psychosocial function in children with benign external hydrocephalus (BEH)-a long-term follow-up study.

Introduction: Long-term impact of benign external hydrocephalus (BEH) on cognition is largely unknown, and indication for neurosurgical CSF diversion procedure is debated. This study reports neuropsychological and psychosocial function in operated and non-operated BEH children.

Methods: Eighty-six children (76 males) between 8 and 18 years (mean 13.

Seizure outcomes in relation to the extent of resection of the perifocal fluorodeoxyglucose and flumazenil PET abnormalities in anteromedial temporal lobectomy.

Background: The area of predominant perifocal [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) hypometabolism and reduced [(11)C]flumazenil ((11)C-FMZ) -binding on PET scans is currently considered to contain the epileptogenic zone and corresponds anatomically to the area localizing epileptogenicity in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The question is whether the volume of the perifocal pre-operative PET abnormalities, the extent of their resection, and the volume of the non-resected abnormalities affects the post-operative seizure outcome.

Methods: The sample group consisted of 32 patients with mesial temporal sclerosis who underwent anteromedial temporal lobe resection for refractory TLE.

Posterior fossa ependymoblastoma diagnosed in the second month of life: uneventful 12 years survival after gross total resection followed by chemotherapy.

We report on an infant who underwent gross total resection (GTR) of a posterior fossa ependymoblastoma in the second month of life followed by chemotherapy with uneventful long-term survival for 12 years. Postoperative radiotherapy has been considered obligate to have a chance for prolonged survival, but is inadvisable in infants. To our knowledge, this is the first reported long-term survival in an infant treated for ependymoblastoma.

Neurosurgical treatment of brain tumors in the first 6 months of life: long-term follow-up of a single consecutive institutional series of 30 patients.

Object: The aim of this study is to delineate the long-term results for patients going through surgery for pediatric brain tumors in the first 6 months of life.

Methods: Thirty consecutive children (1-182 days old) who underwent primary resection for a brain tumor during the years 1973-2012 were included in this retrospective study on surgical morbidity, mortality rate, academic achievement, and/or work participation. Gross motor function and activities of daily life were scored according to the Barthel index.

Neurosurgical treatment of pediatric low-grade midbrain tumors: a single consecutive institutional series of 15 patients.

Object: The authors delineate the long-term results of surgical treatment for pediatric low-grade midbrain glioma.

Methods: A series of 15 consecutive patients (age range 0-15 years) who underwent primary tumor resection for a low-grade midbrain glioma during the years 1989-2010 were included in this retrospective study on surgical morbidity, mortality rate, academic achievement, and/or work participation. Gross motor function and activities of daily living were scored according to the Barthel Index.

Neurosurgical treatment of oligodendroglial tumors in children and adolescents: a single-institution series of 35 consecutive patients.

Object: The object of this study was to delineate long-term results of the surgical treatment of pediatric CNS tumors classified as oligodendroglioma (OD) or oligoastrocytoma (OA) WHO Grade II or III.

Methods: A cohort of 45 consecutive patients 19 years or younger who had undergone primary resection of CNS tumors originally described as oligodendroglial during the years 1970-2009 at a single institution were reviewed in this retrospective study of surgical morbidity, mortality, and academic achievement and/or work participation. Gross motor function and activities of daily living were scored using the Barthel Index (BI).

Neurosurgical treatment of low-grade cerebellar astrocytoma in children and adolescents: a single consecutive institutional series of 100 patients.

Object: The objective of this study was to delineate the long-term results of surgical treatment of pediatric low-grade cerebellar astrocytoma.

Methods: One hundred consecutive children and adolescents (0-19 years old) who underwent primary tumor resection for a low-grade cerebellar astrocytoma during the years 1980-2011 were included in this retrospective study on surgical morbidity, mortality rate, academic achievement, and/or work participation. Gross motor function and activities of daily living were scored according to the Barthel Index.

[Epilepsy surgery--assessment and patient selection].

Background: Considerable progress in diagnostic imaging and video EEG monitoring has improved the possibilities of localising the epileptogenic zone of the brain in patients with epilepsy. Despite the fact that epilepsy surgery can therefore be offered to more patients today than previously, relatively few patients are referred for an assessment for surgery. The aim of this review is to provide a brief account of the patient selection procedures and the investigations prior to epilepsy surgery.