Changes in seizure severity and quality of life in patients with refractory partial epilepsy.

This 6-month observational, prospective, multicenter study assessed the influence of changes in seizure severity on quality of life in patients with refractory partial epilepsy. Patients (N = 262) diagnosed with partial epilepsy and receiving two antiepileptic drugs as determined by usual clinical practice were enrolled in this study. The primary endpoint was the mean seizure severity score obtained from the Seizure Severity Questionnaire.

Antiepileptic drug interactions.

Introduction: Antiepileptics are drugs used in the long-term treatment of epilepsy and other conditions such as pain or psychiatric diseases. They are often administered as polytherapy or in combination with other treatments. It is therefore important to know their potential interactions (with each other and with other substances) in order to avoid altering their efficacy or potentiating their side effects.

Driving cost factors in adult outpatients with refractory epilepsy: a daily clinical practice in clinics of neurology in Spain.

Objective: To explore the association between patient-reported-outcomes measurements and costs in adult outpatients with drug refractory epilepsy (DRE) in Spain.

Methods: Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional study to determine resources utilization and related costs of refractory epilepsy in Spain (LINCE study). Consecutive adult outpatients fulfilling criteria for DRE were analyzed.

Extraction of the intracranial component from the rheoencephalographic signal: a new approach.

The well-known inherent artifact on the rheoencephalogram (REG) caused by the pulsatility of the scalp blood flow left the REG out of the clinical practice. In fact, depending on the selected electrode arrangement, the measurement of the brain impedance changes time-locked with the heartbeat can be completely buried on that of the scalp. In this work, a novel mathematical method based on the physiological differences between the brain and scalp perfusions is proposed to extract the intracranial information from REG.

Relationship between the efficacy of rivastigmine and apolipoprotein E (epsilon4) in patients with mild to moderately severe Alzheimer disease.

Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia in Western countries and the leading cause of disability in the over-65 population. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a multifunctional protein implied in lipid metabolism and neurobiology. Polymorphisms of the APOE gene have been associated with a variety of medical disorders, from arteriosclerosis to AD.

Spatiotemporal pattern of the extracranial component of the rheoencephalographic signal.

The use of rheoencephalography (REG) in the clinical practice to evaluate cerebral blood flow is conditional on the finding of a method for removing the extracranial interference caused by the scalp blood flow. To remove this undesirable influence, digital processing based on statistics could be an effective technique if the appropriate data model were applied. This paper focuses on the analysis of the spatiotemporal features of the extracranial REG component, by comparing its morphology and phase shift at several scalp sites.