Delivery of care, seizure control and medication adherence in women with epilepsy during pregnancy.

Purpose: To evaluate service access for women with epilepsy (WWE) during pregnancy; to determine seizure frequency and rates of adherence to anti-seizure medication (ASM).

Methods: Between June 2019-June 2020, pregnant WWE within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health-board were identified from the National Obstetric Register. A manual review of electronic patient records was undertaken to ensure diagnostic accuracy, as well as determine contact with epilepsy services and documented seizures.

Medication adherence, utilization of healthcare services, and mortality of patients with epilepsy on opiate replacement therapy: A retrospective cohort study.

Introduction: Substance misuse is not uncommonly recognized in people with epilepsy (PWE). Mortality is significantly greater in those with comorbid substance misuse, but it remains unclear whether epilepsy care and management contribute to this. This cohort study aimed to compare the rates of mortality in PWE receiving opiate replacement therapy (ORT) and PWE alone, as well as evaluate their medication adherence, levels of engagement with epilepsy services as currently delivered, and utilization of unscheduled hospital care.

Brainstem encephalitis and acute polyneuropathy associated with hepatitis E infection.

A 59-year-old man presented with feverish illness. His Glasgow Coma Scale was 15, had reduced visual acuity in the left eye with partial left ptosis and mild left hemiparesis with an extensor left plantar. Over 48 hours, he accrued multiple cranial nerves palsies and progressed to a flaccid paralysis necessitating admission to an intensive care unit.

Physical and mental health comorbidities of epilepsy: Population-based cross-sectional analysis of 1.5 million people in Scotland.

Purpose: To measure the prevalence of physical and mental health comorbidities in people with epilepsy in a large population cohort, and to examine the prevalence of depression accounting for other physical comorbidity.

Methods: Population-based, cross-sectional descriptive epidemiology analysis of primary care electronic records for 1,510,742 people aged 14+ years, examining the prevalence of 39 comorbidities.

Results: 12,720 people with epilepsy were identified (prevalence 8.

Organic vs. functional neurological disorders: The role of childhood psychological trauma.

Although the relationship between psychological trauma and medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) is well established, this relationship is less well understood in people with medically unexplained neurological symptoms. In the present study, we set out to compare people with functional neurological disorders, and organic neurological disorders, in terms of childhood and adulthood traumatic events, traumatic stress, emotional dysregulation and symptoms of depression and anxiety. We have hypothesised that those with functional neurological disorders would be more likely to report childhood and adulthood traumatic life events, traumatic symptomatology, emotional dysregulation and symptoms of anxiety and depression, compared to those with organic neurological disorders.

Multifocal dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour with intradural spinal cord lipomas: report of a case.

We report a case of temporal lobe epilepsy and incomplete Brown-Sequard syndrome of the thoracic cord. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed multiple supratentorial masses with the classical radiological appearances of multifocal dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumour (DNET). Spinal MR imaging revealed intradural lipomas, not previously reported in association with multifocal DNET.

Validation of diagnostic criteria for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Objective: Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), a novel form of human prion disease, was recognized in 1996. The disease affected a younger cohort than sporadic CJD, and the early clinical course was dominated by psychiatric and sensory symptoms. In an attempt to aid diagnosis and establish standardization between surveillance networks, diagnostic criteria were established.

PRNP variation in UK sporadic and variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease highlights genetic risk factors and a novel non-synonymous polymorphism.

Background: Genetic analysis of the human prion protein gene (PRNP) in suspect cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is necessary for accurate diagnosis and case classification. Previous publications on the genetic variation at the PRNP locus have highlighted the presence of numerous polymorphisms, in addition to the well recognised one at codon 129, with significant variability between geographically distinct populations. It is therefore of interest to consider their influence on susceptibility or the clinico-pathological disease phenotype.

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in France and the United Kingdom: Evidence for the same agent strain.

Objective: Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) was first reported in the United Kingdom in 1996. Since then, the majority of cases have been observed in the United Kingdom where there was a major epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. France was the second country affected.

Risk factors for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: a case-control study.

Objective: To investigate the potential risk factors for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (VCJD) in the United Kingdom.

Methods: Definite and probable vCJD cases (n = 136) were residing in Great Britain at disease onset, and were referred between May 1995 and November 2003. Control subjects (n = 922) were recruited between 2002 and 2003, from 100 randomly selected geographical clusters sampled to represent the geographical distribution of vCJD.