Exploring the impact of hippocampal sclerosis on white matter tracts and memory in individuals with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: To investigate how the presence/side of hippocampal sclerosis (HS) are related to the white matter structure of cingulum bundle (CB), arcuate fasciculus (AF), and inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE).

Methods: We acquired diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from 86 healthy and 71 individuals with MTLE (22 righ-HS; right-HS, 34 left-HS; left-HS, and 15 nonlesional MTLE). We utilized two-tensor tractography and fiber clustering to compare fractional anisotropy (FA) of each side/tract between groups.

Clinical variables that help in predicting the presence of autoantibodies in patients with acute encephalitis.

Objective: To identify clinical variables that could predict the presence of autoantibodies in patients with acute encephalitis.

Methods: An observational, retrospective study from May 2011 to May 2017. Clinical, EEG, brain MRI data, and antibodies against human neuronal antigens (NMDAR, GABAR, AMPAR, LGI1, CASPR2, and GAD) from 158 patients with criteria for possible autoimmune encephalitis were analyzed to create a predictive model for this disease.

Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study shows progressive pyramidal and callosal damage in Friedreich's ataxia.

Introduction: Spinal cord and peripheral nerves are classically known to be damaged in Friedreich's ataxia, but the extent of cerebral involvement in the disease and its progression over time are not yet characterized. The aim of this study was to evaluate longitudinally cerebral damage in Friedreich's ataxia.

Methods: We enrolled 31 patients and 40 controls, which were evaluated at baseline and after 1 and 2 years.

Asymptomatic carotid stenosis is associated with gray and white matter damage.

Background: Cognitive deficits in patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis have been reported. The ultimate mechanism of cognitive deficits remains unclear and might be related to subtle structural brain damage.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of subtle white and grey matter abnormalities associated with asymptomatic carotid stenosis.

White matter abnormalities associate with type and localization of focal epileptogenic lesions.

Objective: To evaluate white matter (WM) integrity of distinct groups of patients with antiepileptic drug (AED)-resistant localization-related epilepsies.

Methods: We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) fiber-tractography and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to investigate differences of WM micro- and macrostructural integrity in patients with different drug-resistant localization-related epilepsies: 17 with temporal lobe epilepsy with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signs of hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS), 17 with TLE and normal MRI (TLE-NL), 14 with frontal lobe epilepsy and subtle MRI signs of focal cortical dysplasia (FLE-FCD), and 112 healthy controls. We performed fiber-tractography using a semiautomatic deterministic method to yield average fractional anisotropy (FA), axial (AD), and radial (RD) diffusivity ipsilateral and contralateral to the epileptogenic zone of the following tracts based on their functional and anatomic relevance: body of fornix (BoF), body of cingulum (BoC), inferior frontal occipital (IFO), and uncinate fasciculi (UF).

The impact of EEG in the diagnosis and management of patients with acute impairment of consciousness.

Objectives: To assess the frequency of electroencephalogram (EEG) requests in the emergency room (ER) and intensive care unit (ICU) for patients with impairment of consciousness (IC) and its impact in the diagnosis and management.

Methods: We followed patients who underwent routine EEG from ER and ICU with IC until discharge or death.

Results: During the study, 1679 EEGs were performed, with 149 (8.