Publications by authors named "David Masur"
Objective: This study was undertaken to determine whether hippocampal T2 hyperintensity predicts sequelae of febrile status epilepticus, including hippocampal atrophy, sclerosis, and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.
Methods: Acute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained within a mean of 4.4 (SD = 5.
Objective: To characterize pretreatment behavioral problems and differential effects of initial therapy in children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE).
Methods: The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was administered at baseline, week 16-20, and month 12 visits of a randomized double-blind trial of ethosuximide, lamotrigine, and valproate. Total problems score was the primary outcome measure.
Objective: To determine optimal second monotherapy for children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) experiencing initial treatment failure.
Methods: Children with CAE experiencing treatment failure during the double-blind phase of a randomized controlled trial comparing ethosuximide, valproic acid, and lamotrigine were randomized to open-label second monotherapy with one of the 2 other study therapies. Primary study outcome was freedom from failure proportion at week 16-20 and month 12 visits after randomization.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine early developmental and cognitive outcomes of children with febrile status epilepticus (FSE) one month and one year after FSE.
Methods: One hundred ninety four children with FSE were evaluated on measures of cognition, receptive language, and memory as part of the FEBSTAT study and compared with 100 controls with simple febrile seizures (FSs).
Results: Children with FSE did not differ dramatically on tasks compared with FS controls at one month after FSE but demonstrated slightly weaker motor development (p=0.
Objective: To determine incidence and early predictors of generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCs) in children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE).
Methods: Occurrence of GTCs was determined in 446 children with CAE who participated in a randomized clinical trial comparing ethosuximide, lamotrigine, and valproate as initial therapy for CAE.
Results: As of June 2014, the cohort had been followed for a median of 7.
Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) often mimic epileptic seizures and occur in both people with and without epilepsy. Pathophysiology of conversion disorders such as PNES remains unclear though significant psychological, psychiatric and environmental factors have been correlated with a diagnosis of PNES. Many clinical signs that have been considered typical for PNES can also be found in frontal epileptic seizures.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Whether febrile status epilepticus (FSE) produces hippocampal sclerosis (HS) and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) has long been debated. Our objective is to determine whether FSE produces acute hippocampal injury that evolves to HS.
Methods: FEBSTAT and 2 affiliated studies prospectively recruited 226 children aged 1 month to 6 years with FSE and controls with simple febrile seizures.
This study examined the degree to which anxiety contributed to inconsistent material-specific memory difficulties among 243 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy from the Multisite Epilepsy Study. Visual memory performance on the Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) was poorer for those with high versus low levels of anxiety but was not found to be related to the TLE side. The verbal memory score on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) was significantly lower for patients with left-sided TLE than for patients with right-sided TLE with low anxiety levels but equally impaired for those with high anxiety levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To determine the neurocognitive deficits associated with newly diagnosed untreated childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), develop a model describing the factorial structure of items measuring academic achievement and 3 neuropsychological constructs, and determine short-term differential neuropsychological effects on attention among ethosuximide, valproic acid, and lamotrigine.
Methods: Subjects with newly diagnosed CAE entering a double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial had neuropsychological testing including assessments of general intellectual functioning, attention, memory, executive function, and achievement. Attention was reassessed at the week 16-20 visit.
Objective: To identify risk factors for developing a first febrile status epilepticus (FSE) among children with a first febrile seizure (FS).
Study Design: Cases were children with a first FS that was FSE drawn from the Consequences of Prolonged Febrile Seizures in Childhood and Columbia cohorts. Controls were children with a first simple FS and separately, children with a first complex FS that was not FSE.
Objective: In children with newly diagnosed childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), determine pretreatment EEG features and their associations with baseline neuropsychological function and short-term treatment outcome.
Methods: In a multicenter, randomized clinical trial, patients with CAE underwent a pretreatment, 1-hour video-EEG and neuropsychological testing with freedom-from-failure and seizure-freedom (SF) outcome assessed at the 16- to 20-week visit.
Results: Detailed evaluation of the pretreatment EEG was possible for 99.
Purpose: Determine the optimal initial monotherapy for children with newly diagnosed childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) based on 12 months of double-blind therapy.
Methods: A double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial compared the efficacy, tolerability, and neuropsychological effects of ethosuximide, valproic acid, and lamotrigine in children with newly diagnosed CAE. Study medications were titrated to clinical response, and subjects remained in the trial unless they reached a treatment failure criterion.
Purpose: Febrile status epilepticus (FSE) has been associated with hippocampal injury and subsequent hippocampal sclerosis (HS) and temporal lobe epilepsy. The FEBSTAT study was designed to prospectively examine the association between prolonged febrile seizures and development of HS and associated temporal lobe epilepsy, one of the most controversial issues in epilepsy. We report on the baseline phenomenology of the final cohorts as well as detailed aims and methodology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To determine the long-term cognitive and educational outcomes in children prospectively identified at the time of a first unprovoked seizure.
Methods: A cohort of children with a first unprovoked seizure was enrolled and followed for a mean of 15 years. Cognitive function and educational outcomes were determined 10 or more years after the first seizure via standardized neuropsychological tests, school records, and structured interviews.
Background: Childhood absence epilepsy, the most common pediatric epilepsy syndrome, is usually treated with ethosuximide, valproic acid, or lamotrigine. The most efficacious and tolerable initial empirical treatment has not been defined.
Methods: In a double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial, we compared the efficacy, tolerability, and neuropsychological effects of ethosuximide, valproic acid, and lamotrigine in children with newly diagnosed childhood absence epilepsy.