Lidocaine treatment in refractory status epilepticus resulting from febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome: a case report and follow-up.

We report the management of refractory status epilepticus (SE) by using continuous intravenous infusions of lidocaine in a previously healthy 15-year-old girl with a "catastrophic encephalopathy" in whom a diagnosis of febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome was supposed. One week after a banal pharyngitis and fever, the patient presented confusion and intractable clusters of seizures. Although she underwent multiple examinations investigating all possible etiologies (intracranial infection, autoimmune disease, or toxic and metabolic illness), all results were negative except a feeble positivity to Mycoplasma pneumoniae serum antibodies.

EEG findings in cooled asphyxiated newborns and correlation with site and severity of brain damage.

Objective: EEG and MRI are useful tools to evaluate the severity of brain damage and to provide prognostic indications in asphyxiated neonates. Aim of our study is to analyze the relationship between serial neonatal EEGs and severity and sites of brain lesions on MRI in neonates undergoing hypothermia, following a hypoxic-ischemic injury.

Patients And Methods: Forty-eight term newborns underwent hypothermia.

Poor repertoire General Movements predict some aspects of development outcome at 2 years in very preterm infants.

Background: Observation of the quality of endogenously generated "General Movements" has been proved to be a reliable and sensitive tool in the assessment of fragile neonates. The absence of fidgety movements at 2-4 months post-term is highly predictive of Cerebral Palsy. On the contrary, the presence of a poor repertoire pattern during the writhing period is not reliable in predicting motor or neurobehavioral disorders at any stage of development.

Transient nonverbal learning disorder in a child suffering from Familial Hemiplegic Migraine.

Objective: To study the link between nonverbal learning disorder and right cerebral hemisphere dysfunction due to migraine attack in a case of Familial Hemiplegic Migraine.

Background: Familial Hemiplegic Migraine can cause neuropsychological deficits besides the motor ones. The nonverbal learning disorder is thought to be caused by a right hemisphere dysfunction.

A clinical and genetic study of 33 new cases with early-onset absence epilepsy.

Purpose: To investigate the electroclinical features and the outcome of patients with typical absences starting before the 3 years of life.

Methods: We reviewed the clinical data of patients with absences started before 3 years observed over a 15-year period. Mutation analysis of SLC2A1 (GLUT-1) gene was performed when possible.

Unusual segmental narrowing of spinal cord responsible for child paraparesis.

We describe a 7-year-old girl with spastic paraparesis. Her clinical condition was due to a unusual segmental thoracic narrowing of spinal cord. We show the imaging of her spinal cord, we compare her condition with the few similar cases from the literature and we try to suppose an aetiology.