Epileptiform Discharges Recorded as Monopoles and Dipoles in the EEG: A Practical Approach to Differentiate Tangential and Radial Generators Using Electrode Position Versus Voltage Graphs.

Differentiating dipoles (tangential generators) from monopoles (radial generators) in routine EEG reading can be difficult. The polarity of sharp waves seen on surface EEG will change depending on the generator being located at the wall of the sulcus versus the crown of a gyrus. In this article, the authors introduce visual rules that may be used to determine polarity and estimate the localization of potentials during analysis of the EEG.

Reliable detection of generalized convulsive seizures using an off-the-shelf digital watch: A multisite phase 2 study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a machine learning algorithm using an off-the-shelf digital watch, the Samsung watch (SM-R800), and evaluate its effectiveness for the detection of generalized convulsive seizures (GCS) in persons with epilepsy.

Methods: This multisite epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) phase 2 study included 36 adult patients. Each patient wore a Samsung watch that contained accelerometer, gyroscope, and photoplethysmographic sensors.

Ictal Central Apnea Is Predictive of Mesial Temporal Seizure Onset: An Intracranial Investigation.

Objective: Ictal central apnea (ICA) is a semiological sign of focal epilepsy, associated with temporal and frontal lobe seizures. In this study, using qualitative and quantitative approaches, we aimed to assess the localizational value of ICA. We also aimed to compare ICA clinical utility in relation to other seizure semiological features of focal epilepsy.

Stimulation-induced respiratory enhancement in corticothalamic regions.

Objective: We aimed to identify corticothalamic areas and electrical stimulation paradigms that optimally enhance breathing.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients with medically intractable epilepsy were prospectively recruited in an epilepsy monitoring unit while undergoing stereoelectroencephalographic evaluation. Direct electrical stimulation in cortical and thalamic regions was carried out using low (<1 Hz) and high (≥10 Hz) frequencies, and low (<5 mA) and high (≥5 mA) current intensities, with pulse width of .

Subject-Specific Activation of Central Respiratory Centers during Breath-Holding Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background: Voluntary breath-holding (BH) triggers responses from central neural control and respiratory centers in order to restore breathing. Such responses can be observed using functional MRI (fMRI).

Objectives: We used this paradigm in healthy volunteers with the view to develop a biomarker that could be used to investigate disorders of the central control of breathing at the individual patient level.

Development of a respiratory quality improvement faculty in an acute hospital using QI methodology.

National Health Service (NHS) clinical staff are required to demonstrate involvement in quality improvement (QI) and patient safety. Clinicians are often best placed to identify problems and design solutions for their own clinical environments, yet the rotational nature of training can impact on the design, implementation and sustainability of projects.The In-hospital Quality Improvement for Respiratory team was created in August 2020 within a busy respiratory department to inspire a culture of continuous improvement and provide a sustainable infrastructure to support and progress QI projects (QIPs).

A multimodal clinical data resource for personalized risk assessment of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

Epilepsy affects ~2-3 million individuals in the United States, a third of whom have uncontrolled seizures. Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a catastrophic and fatal complication of poorly controlled epilepsy and is the primary cause of mortality in such patients. Despite its huge public health impact, with a ~1/1,000 incidence rate in persons with epilepsy, it is an uncommon enough phenomenon to require multi-center efforts for well-powered studies.

Functional MRI Correlates of Carbon Dioxide Chemosensing in Persons With Epilepsy.

Objectives: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a catastrophic epilepsy outcome for which there are no reliable premortem imaging biomarkers of risk. Percival respiratory depression is seen in monitored SUDEP and near SUDEP cases, and abnormal chemosensing of raised blood carbon dioxide (CO) is thought to contribute. Damage to brainstem respiratory control and chemosensing structures has been demonstrated in structural imaging and neuropathological studies of SUDEP.

Limbic and paralimbic respiratory modulation: From inhibition to enhancement.

Objective: Increased understanding of the role of cortical structures in respiratory control may help the understanding of seizure-induced respiratory dysfunction that leads to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The aim of this study was to characterize respiratory responses to electrical stimulation (ES), including inhibition and enhancement of respiration.

Methods: We prospectively recruited 19 consecutive patients with intractable epilepsy undergoing stereotactic electroencephalography (EEG) evaluation from June 2015 to June 2018.

Runtime translation of OCL-like statements on Simulink models: Expanding domains and optimising queries.

Open-source model management frameworks such as OCL and ATL tend to focus on manipulating models built atop the Eclipse Modelling Framework (EMF), a de facto standard for domain specific modelling. MATLAB Simulink is a widely used proprietary modelling framework for dynamic systems that is built atop an entirely different technical stack to EMF. To leverage the facilities of open-source model management frameworks with Simulink models, these can be transformed into an EMF-compatible representation.

Supporting wellness at pantries (SWAP) nutrition stoplight system aids rural food pantry clients living with chronic disease in selecting nutritious options.

Objectives: Chronic disease accounts for 70% of U.S. deaths, with suboptimal nutrition an important, preventable risk factor.

Automated Analysis of Risk Factors for Postictal Generalized EEG Suppression.

Currently, there is some ambiguity over the role of postictal generalized electro-encephalographic suppression (PGES) as a biomarker in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Visual analysis of PGES, known to be subjective, may account for this. In this study, we set out to perform an analysis of PGES presence and duration using a validated signal processing tool, specifically to examine the association between PGES and seizure features previously reported to be associated with visually analyzed PGES.

Long-term Home Video EEG for Recording Clinical Events.

Around 50 years after the first EEG acquisition by Hans Berger, its use in ambulatory setting was demonstrated. Ever since, ambulatory EEG has been widely available and routinely used in the United States (and to a lesser extent in Europe) for diagnosis and management of patients with epilepsy. This technology alone cannot help with semiological characterization, and absence of video is one of its main drawbacks.

Seizure Clusters, Seizure Severity Markers, and SUDEP Risk.

Seizure clusters may be related to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). Two or more generalized convulsive seizures (GCS) were captured during video electroencephalography in 7/11 (64%) patients with monitored SUDEP in the MORTEMUS study. It follows that seizure clusters may be associated with epilepsy severity and possibly with SUDEP risk.

A Bespoke Electronic Health Record for Epilepsy Care (EpiToMe): Development and Qualitative Evaluation.

Background: While electronic health records (EHR) bring various benefits to health care, EHR systems are often criticized as cumbersome to use, failing to fulfill the promise of improved health care delivery with little more than a means of meeting regulatory and billing requirements. EHR has also been recognized as one of the contributing factors for physician burnout.

Objective: Specialty-specific EHR systems have been suggested as an alternative approach that can potentially address challenges associated with general-purpose EHRs.

Automated detection of activity onset after postictal generalized EEG suppression.

Background: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is a leading cause of premature death in patients with epilepsy. If timely assessment of SUDEP risk can be made, early interventions for optimized treatments might be provided. One of the biomarkers being investigated for SUDEP risk assessment is postictal generalized EEG suppression [postictal generalized EEG suppression (PGES)].

Association of Peri-ictal Brainstem Posturing With Seizure Severity and Breathing Compromise in Patients With Generalized Convulsive Seizures.

Objective: To analyze the association between peri-ictal brainstem posturing semiologies with postictal generalized electroencephalographic suppression (PGES) and breathing dysfunction in generalized convulsive seizures (GCS).

Methods: In this prospective, multicenter analysis of GCS, ictal brainstem semiology was classified as (1) decerebration (bilateral symmetric tonic arm extension), (2) decortication (bilateral symmetric tonic arm flexion only), (3) hemi-decerebration (unilateral tonic arm extension with contralateral flexion) and (4) absence of ictal tonic phase. Postictal posturing was also assessed.

Peri-ictal hypoxia is related to extent of regional brain volume loss accompanying generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Objectives: Hypoxia, or abnormally low blood-oxygen levels, often accompanies seizures and may elicit brain structural changes in people with epilepsy which contribute to central processes underlying sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The extent to which hypoxia may be related to brain structural alterations in this patient group remains unexplored.

Methods: We analyzed high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine brain morphometric and volumetric alterations in people with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) recorded during long-term video-electroencephalography (VEEG), recruited from two sites (n = 22), together with data from age- and sex-matched healthy controls (n = 43).

Postictal serotonin levels are associated with peri-ictal apnea.

Objective: To determine the relationship between serum serotonin (5-HT) levels, ictal central apnea (ICA), and postconvulsive central apnea (PCCA) in epileptic seizures.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated video EEG, plethysmography, capillary oxygen saturation (SpO), and ECG for 49 patients (49 seizures) enrolled in a multicenter study of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). Postictal and interictal venous blood samples were collected after a clinical seizure for measurement of serum 5-HT levels.

Ictal Central Apnea (ICA) may be a useful semiological sign in invasive epilepsy surgery evaluations.

Introduction: Ictal central apnea (ICA) occurs in up to 44% focal seizures (temporal > extratemporal) and precedes scalp electrographic (EEG) seizure onset in 54% of them. Central apnea can be elicited by electrical stimulation of mesial temporal structures (amygdala, hippocampus, and anteromesial parahippocampal and fusiform gyri), known symptomatogenic anatomical substrates for ICA. We aimed to analyze ICA value as an early semiological sign in invasive evaluation of suspected mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE).

The association of serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines with ictal central apnea.

Objective: Ictal (ICA) and postconvulsive central apnea (PCCA) have been implicated in sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) pathomechanisms. Previous studies suggest that serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and benzodiazepines (BZDs) may influence breathing. The aim of this study was to investigate if chronic use of these drugs alters central apnea occurrence in patients with epilepsy.

Insular resection may lead to autonomic function changes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if insular damage is associated with markers of autonomic dysfunction.

Methods: We studied patients who underwent temporal lobe and/or insular resections for epilepsy surgery between April 2010 and June 2015 at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center (UHCMC). Presurgical T1-weighted MPRAGE, standard T1, T2 and FLAIR sequences were compared with postsurgical MRI by a neuroradiologist and classified as type 0 (no involvement of insula), type 1 (minimal involvement of insular margin), type 2 (insular involvement <25%), and type 3 (insular involvement ≥25%).