Nonconvulsive Status Epilepticus: Clinical Findings, EEG Features, and Prognosis in a Developing Country, Mexico.

Purpose: There is a lack of clinical and epidemiological knowledge about nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) in developing countries including Mexico, which has the highest prevalence of epilepsy in the Americas. Our aim was to describe the clinical findings, EEG features, and outcomes of NCSE in a tertiary center in Mexico.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective case series study (2010-2020) including patients (≥15 years old) with NCSE according to the modified Salzburg NCSE criteria 2015 with at least 6 months of follow-up.

A pilot randomized controlled clinical trial of Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation in patients with multifocal pharmaco-resistant epilepsy.

Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) is a promising noninvasive electrical stimulation therapy for neuropsychiatric diseases. Invasive neuromodulation using alternating current has been efficacious for drug-resistant epilepsy, but it is associated with surgical and medical complications. We aimed to explore the safeness and effectivity on seizure frequency reduction of two tACS protocols against placebo in patients with multifocal refractory epilepsy.

Effect of the anodal transcranial direct current electrical stimulation on cognition of medical residents with acute sleep deprivation.

Background: Medical residents must sustain acute sleep deprivation, which can lead to nonfatal and fatal consequences in hospitals due to cognitive decline. Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tDCS) is a safe noninvasive neuromodulation technique that can induce depolarization of neurons. Previous studies in pilots have shown benefits against fatigue increasing wakefulness and cognitive performance.

Effects of resective epilepsy surgery on the social determinants of health.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to analyze changes in the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) in patients undergoing epilepsy surgery in Mexico.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 102 adult patients who underwent brain resection for focal epilepsy (2002-2014) with at least 4 years of follow-up; described clinical variables (age, race, sex, age of onset of epilepsy, age at the time of surgery, type of surgery, side of surgery) and sociodemographic variables including education, income, race/ethnicity, occupation, and marital status.

Statistical Analysis: Descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

Neurophysiological Intraoperative Monitoring in the Elderly.

Introduction: Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) is widely used to prevent nervous system injury during surgeries in elderly patients. However, there are no studies that describe the characteristics and changes in neurophysiological tests during the IONM of patients aged 60 years and older. The study aims to describe and compare IONM changes during surgeries in adult patients aged 18 to 59 years with those aged 60 years and older.

Pediatric Montages in Clinical Practice.

The montages in clinical EEG recordings in neonates, infants, and children follow some basic principles of adolescent or adult EEG recordings; however, special considerations are needed to obtain optimal diagnostic yield in pediatric patients. The aim of this review is to summarize the pediatric montages recommended in clinical practice in the standard clinical neurophysiology laboratory and in special situations.

Neuromodulation techniques for status epilepticus: A review.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS), Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) are neuromodulation therapies that have been used to treat Status Epilepticus (SE).

Objective: Review the literature about the efficacy and safety of neuromodulation therapies in SE in humans.

Methods: We searched studies in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Science Direct (inception to June 2018).

Screening spreading depolarizations during epilepsy surgery.

Background: Spreading depolarization (SD) is a fundamental pathophysiological mechanism of both pannecrotic and selective neuronal lesions following deprivation of energy. SD with brain injury has been reported including in one patient during an intracranial operation. However, the incidence of SDs in operative resections is unknown.

Neurosurgical Therapy for Status Epilepticus in Oligoastrocytoma Patients.

Background: Super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE) is a life-threatening neurologic emergency defined as "status epilepticus (SE) that continues 24 hours or more after the onset of anesthesia, including those cases in which the SE recurs on the reduction or withdrawal of anesthesia," which occurs in 10% to 15% of patients with SE and rarely has been resolved surgically.

Case Descriptions: A 20-year-old man with SRSE and a long history of left parieto-occipital oligoastrocytoma was admitted for convulsive SE that became SRSE and underwent lesionectomy guided by electrocorticography and neuronavigation for local tumor recurrence. Histopathologic diagnosis was oligoastrocytoma.

Dynamic changes of the intraocular pressure and the pressure of cerebrospinal fluid in nonglaucomatous neurological patients.

Purpose: To describe the dynamic changes of the intraocular pressure (IOP) and intracranial pressure (ICP) with normal or pathological values (intracranial hypertension) in nonglaucomatous neurological patients during lumbar punction (LP).

Methods: Case-control study, prospective measurement of tonometry in both groups referred for LP. Intraocular pressure, ICP and translaminar pressure difference (TPD) were compared pre- and post-LP.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Hippocampal Sclerosis.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been evaluated in medication refractory epilepsy patients. The results have been inconclusive and protocols have varied between studies.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of two protocols of tDCS in adult patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS).

Prevalence of epilepsy, beliefs and attitudes in a rural community in Mexico: A door-to-door survey.

Objective: The study aimed to establish the prevalence of seizure history (SH) and epilepsy in a rural community in Hidalgo, Mexico and determine the patients' beliefs and attitudes towards the disease and its initial medical treatment.

Methodology: A transverse, descriptive, door-to-door epidemiological study (April 2011-November 2012) was conducted with 863 inhabitants from Xocotitla, Huejutla, Hidalgo, Mexico (162 housing units). Patients with SH were identified with an adaptation of the WHO protocol for epidemiological studies of neurological diseases.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Epilepsy.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging non-invasive neuromodulation therapy in epilepsy with conflicting results in terms of efficacy and safety.

Objective: Review the literature about the efficacy and safety of tDCS in epilepsy in humans and animals.

Methods: We searched studies in PubMed, MedLine, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar (January 1969 to October 2013) using the keywords 'transcranial direct current stimulation' or 'tDCS' or 'brain polarization' or 'galvanic stimulation' and 'epilepsy' in animals and humans.

Utility of electrocorticography in the surgical treatment of cavernomas presenting with pharmacoresistant epilepsy.

Aim: To describe the general aspects of cavernomas and epilepsy and review the available literature on the utility of electrocorticography (ECoG) in cerebral cavernoma surgery.

Methods: We searched studies in PubMed, MedLine, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (from January 1969 to December 2013) using the keywords "electrocorticography" or "ECoG" or "prognosis" or "outcome" and "cavernomas". Original articles that reported utility of ECoG in epilepsy surgery were included.

Intraoperative monitoring of the abducens nerve in extended endonasal endoscopic approach: a pilot study technical report.

Background: To determine the reliability and usefulness of intraoperative monitoring of the abducens nerve during extended endonasal endoscopic skull base tumor resection.

Methods: We performed abducens nerve intraoperative monitoring in 8 patients with giant clival lesions recording with needle electrodes sutured directly into the lateral rectus muscles of the eye to evaluate spontaneous electromyographic activity and triggered responses following stimulation of the abducens nerves.

Results: A total of 16 abducens nerves were successfully recorded during endoscopic endonasal skull base surgeries.

Periodic epileptiform discharges in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.

Purpose: Periodic epileptiform discharges (PEDs) are an uncommon, abnormal EEG pattern seen usually in patients with acute diseases and less frequently in chronic conditions, such as mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE). Evaluate the clinical histories, neuroimaging findings, and serial electrophysiological studies prior to the appearance of PEDs in patients with mTLE secondary to hippocampal sclerosis (HS).

Methods: We searched 19, 375 EEGs (2006-2012) for the presence of PEDs secondary to mTLE due to HS.

Synchrotron-generated microbeam sensorimotor cortex transections induce seizure control without disruption of neurological functions.

Synchrotron-generated X-ray microplanar beams (microbeams) are characterized by the ability to deliver extremely high doses of radiation to spatially restricted volumes of tissue. Minimal dose spreading outside the beam path provides an exceptional degree of protection from radio-induced damage to the neurons and glia adjacent to the microscopic slices of tissue irradiated. The preservation of cortical architecture following high-dose microbeam irradiation and the ability to induce non-invasively the equivalent of a surgical cut over the cortex is of great interest for the development of novel experimental models in neurobiology and new treatment avenues for a variety of brain disorders.

Diffusion tensor imaging in radiosurgical callosotomy.

Callosotomy by radioneurosurgery induces slow and progressive axonal degeneration of white matter fibers, a key consequence of neuronal or axonal injury (radionecrosis). However, the acute effects are not apparent when using conventional MRI techniques. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) during the first week following radioneurosurgical callosotomy allowed evaluation of these microstructural changes.

Non-resective surgery and radiosurgery for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy.

Epilepsy surgery is an effective treatment for properly selected patients with intractable seizures. However, many patients with medically intractable epilepsy are not excellent candidates for surgical resection of the epileptogenic zone. Due to recent advances in computer technology and bioengineering, several novel techniques are receiving increasing interest for their role in the care of people with epilepsy.

The double generalization phenomenon in juvenile absence epilepsy.

The characterization of a seizure as generalized or focal onset depends on a basic knowledge of the underlying pathophysiology. Recently, an uncommon phenomenon in generalized epilepsy-evolution of seizures from generalized to focal followed by secondary generalization-was reported for the first time. We describe a 15-year-old boy, initially classified as having partial epilepsy, who had a typical absence seizure that became focal with second secondary generalization (double generalization).