Microstructural Changes in Intraretinal Layers and Macular Structures of People with Epilepsy Measured Using Optical Coherence Tomography.

Introduction: Epilepsy is a network disorder that can cause alterations in retinal morphology due to microstructural changes in the brain. The aim of our study was to use spectral optical coherence tomography (OCT) to assess the possible effects of neuronal degeneration on the intraretinal layers and macular structures of people with epilepsy and epilepsy subgroups.

Methods: We enrolled 52 consecutive people with epilepsy (37 females, 15 males; mean age 29.

Factors affecting long-term prognosis in adult patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

Background And Purpose:

Latency of epileptic and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Background: Due to their semiological similarities, psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) can occasionally hardly be differentiated from epileptic seizures (ESs), and long-term video-electroencephalographic monitoring (VEM) is needed for the differential diagnosis.

Objective: To investigate the time of the first clinical event and its distribution on the days of VEM in ES and PNES patients.

Methods: In total, a consecutive series of 48 PNES and 51 ES patients matched for gender and age were retrospectively and consecutively evaluated.

Investigation of the Genetic Etiology in Idiopathic Generalized Epileptic Disorders by Targeted Next-generation Sequencing Technique.

Background: Idiopathic generalized epilepsy is the most common group of epilepsy disorders in children and adolescents. Various types of genetic abnormality were identified among the hereditary factors that explain epilepsy.

Aims: To determine the variations in the etiopathogenesis, treatment protocol planning, and prognosis of idiopathic generalized epilepsy using the next-generation sequencing method.

Electroclinical patterns in patients with nonconvulsive status epilepticus: Etiology, treatment, and outcome.

Introduction: This study investigated the clinical and electroencephalography (EEG) features and prognostic factors of patients with nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical files and EEG data of 45 (28 females, mean age 54 ± 22.6 years) consecutive patients with NCSE over a five-year period.

An epidemiologic investigation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Thrace, Turkey, 2006-2010.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the incidence and prevalence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in Thrace, Turkey in a five-year time period (2006-2010).

Methods: Study population included residents of three provinces (Edirne, Tekirdag, Kırklareli) in the Thrace region. Cases were ascertained from all of the neurologic centers and hospitals of these provinces.

Factors affecting the quality of life in drug-resistant epilepsy patients.

Epilepsy patients whose seizures cannot be controlled by treatment have a lower quality of life (QoL). The aim of the present study was to compare the potential factors affecting the QoL in patients who were seizure-free with medication or who had drug-resistant epilepsy. The study included 46 drug-resistant and 42 seizure-free epilepsy patients.

Ictal asystole mimicking seizure deterioration in temporal lobe epilepsy.

We report on a patient with temporal lobe epilepsy, secondary to a left lateral temporal cavernoma, in whom the change in seizure semiology suggested recurrence of secondary generalized seizures. Anticonvulsive medication previously controlled secondary generalized seizures over a period of years but focal seizures continued at a lower rate. Continuous video-EEG monitoring revealed ictal asystole associated with myoclonic syncope and falls during focal seizures arising from the left temporal lobe.

Endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Gene Polymorphisms in Migraine Patients.

Introduction: In this study, we investigated the association of migraine with the Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (VNTR), repeated as 27 base pair, gene polymorphism in intron 4 of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and the insertion/deletion of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphisms.

Methods: One hundred and five migraine and ninety seven healthy female control subjects were enrolled in the study. The patients were subdivided as migraine with aura and without aura, and the frequency and severity of migraine headaches were recorded.

Calcitonin gene related peptide gene polymorphism in migraine patients.

Objective: Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP), which has a vasodilator effect, is held responsible for neurogenic inflammation and vasodilatation of the cranial vessels in migraine pathophysiology. In this study, we investigated the association between alpha CGRP gene polymorphism (CALCA T-692C) and migraine.

Material And Methods: One hundred and thirty-four female migraineurs and 96 healthy female cases were enrolled in the study.

Soluble CD40 ligand and prolactin levels in migraine patients during interictal period.

The relationship of migraine with cardiovascular diseases has been clarified by many studies, and currently, migraine is suggested to be a systematic vasculopathy. Inflammation, thrombosis and impaired vascular reactivity are the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of the vasculopathy. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between prolactin levels and subclinical atherosclerosis risk factors such as soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) in migraine patients during interictal period.

Postural tremor as a manifestation of spontaneous intracranial hypotension.

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is a syndrome caused by low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure due to leakage of CSF. Clinically, orthostatic headache, neck pain, nausea, emesis, interscapular pain, diplopia, dizziness, changes in hearing, visual blurring and radicular upper extremity symptoms are most frequently observed. We describe a 57-year-old man with SIH who presented with postural tremor.

Migraine in metabolic syndrome.

Objectives: Recent studies suggest that insulin resistance is more common in patients with migraine. Insulin resistance underlies the pathogenesis of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that are components of metabolic syndrome. As migraine is associated with an increased risk of vascular disorders, such as stroke, and migraine patients have higher diastolic blood pressure than healthy individuals, we aimed to investigate the 1-year prevalence of migraine in metabolic syndrome.

Insulin resistance and high sensitivity C-reactive protein in migraine.

Background: A relationship between migraine and vascular disorders such as hypertension, stroke, and coronary ischemia has been recently reported. Insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction, which commonly underlies these disorders, have not been widely investigated in migraine patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the existence of insulin resistance and endothelial dysfunction, and their relationship to vascular risk factors in patients with migraine.

Oxidative stress and total antioxidant capacity in diabetic and nondiabetic acute ischemic stroke patients.

Free radical formation is the pivotal mechanism of neuronal injury of ischemic and reperfused brain tissue. In healthy individuals, antioxidant activity counterbalances free radical production, but in the case of ischemia, the balance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidant activity is shifted toward free radicals, causing oxidative stress. The aim of this study is to assess total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and oxidative stress in diabetic and nondiabetic acute stroke patients with 2 different stroke subtypes: large and small vessel disease stroke.

Subclinical Cushing's syndrome is a potential cause of metabolic dementia and rapidly progressive Alzheimer-type dementia.

Excess of glucocorticoid hormones are found to exert deleterious effects on the structure and function of central nervous system, especially the hippocampus. This is manifested as mental and mood changes in Cushing syndrome. Subclinical Cushing's syndrome (SCS) is much more prevalent than Cushing's syndrome, and presents with increased plasma cortisol levels, but lack of the cardinal manifestations of Cushing's syndrome.

Glu298Asp polymorphism of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene in Turkish patients with ischemic stroke.

The low plasma nitric oxide concentrations and reduced vascular reactivity are considered major proatherogenic mechanisms in cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed to assess the allelic frequency and the genotypic distribution of the Glu298Asp gene polymorphism at exon 7 of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) gene in Turkish ischemic stroke patients compared to appropriate healthy controls, and to correlate the genetic findings with stroke subtypes. The study population included 146 (75 males, 71 females) patients with ischemic stroke which were categorized according to the Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) and 133 (34 males, 99 females) healthy subjects.

Low leptin levels in migraine: a case control study.

Background: Obesity has been shown to be a risk factor for transformation of episodic migraine to chronic form, and adipocytokines have been implicated to modulate some of the cytokins such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor, which also act in the neurogenic inflammation in migraine. The aim of the study was to assess leptin levels, one of the adipocytokines, in headache-free period of migraine patients and investigate its relation to vascular risk factors.

Material And Methods: Sixty-one patients with episodic migraine headaches and 64 control subjects were enrolled in the study.

The roles of oxidized low-density lipoprotein and interleukin-6 levels in acute atherothrombotic and lacunar ischemic stroke.

The role of circulating, oxidized low-density lipoprotein and interleukin-6 levels in acute ischemic stroke considering the primary-vessel disease was investigated. The study consisted of 28 patients with acute ischemic stroke and 23 control subjects. Patients were subdivided into large-vessel (n = 12) and small-vessel (n =16) disease stroke groups according to the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) criteria.

Serum osteoprotegerin levels in patients with acute atherothrombotic stroke and lacunar infarct.

Background: Arterial calcification is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a cytokine involved in the bone metabolism and vascular calcification. Recent data support a relationship between high serum levels of OPG and increased risk for cardiovascular disease in human.