Comparative assessment of health-related quality of life with and without anticonvulsant therapy in patients with childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes.

Objective: To estimate anti-seizure medication (ASM) treatment burden and its effects on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in new-onset childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (CECTS) using different treatment approaches in Kazakhstan.

Methods: Forty-three patients were followed prospectively during 2015 to 2020 for at least 2 years. Patients were divided into three groups: (1) history of ≤3 seizures (n = 32); (2) ≥4 seizures (n = 6); (3) cerebral palsy coexisting with CECTS (n = 5).

A Self-Limited Childhood Epilepsy as Co-Incidental in Cerebral Palsy.

Background: Cerebral palsy is the most frequent motor disability in childhood and is associated with a higher incidence of seizure disorders. In many instances, it is recognized that motor difficulties, as well as seizures, are from the same underlying brain lesion. However, self-limited childhood epilepsies, being a common group of epilepsy syndromes, would be expected to occur in patients with cerebral palsy merely on chance association and be unrelated to the structural brain imaging abnormality causing the motor impairment.

Isolated focal dystonia phenotypes are associated with distinct patterns of altered microstructure.

Objective: Isolated adult-onset focal dystonia is considered a network disorder with disturbances to the motor basal ganglia and cerebellar circuits playing a pathophysiological role, but why specific body regions become affected remains unknown. We aimed to use diffusion tensor imaging to determine if the two most common phenotypes of focal dystonia are associated with distinguishing microstructural changes affecting the motor network.

Methods: Fifteen blepharospasm patients, 20 cervical dystonia patients, and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited.

Curative and palliative MRI-guided laser ablation for drug-resistant epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder occurring in 3% of the US adult population. It is characterised by seizures resulting from aberrant hypersynchronous neural activity. Approximately one-third of newly diagnosed epilepsy cases fail to become seizure-free in response to antiseizure drugs.

The Addition of Endovascular Intervention for Dural Venous Sinus Thrombosis: Single-Center Experience and Review of Literature.

Background: Dural venous sinus thrombosis (DVST) is a cause of infarction and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) that can lead to significant morbidity. Endovascular therapy has emerged as an adjunctive therapy in select cases but has been associated with increased hemorrhagic complications. We present our experience with a large single-center cohort of DVST cases treated with current-generation thrombectomy devices.

Imaging of Laser Therapy in Epilepsy.

Background And Purpose: MR-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MRgLITT) is an increasingly popular neuroablative method for the surgical treatment of epilepsy patients. This article intends to demonstrate the utility and pitfalls of imaging in the context of patient care with MRgLITT.

Material And Methods: A retrospective review of the medical records and imaging database with six illustrative cases selected to demonstrate the use of imaging throughout patient management with MRgLITT in diverse clinical situations and pathologies.

Diagnostic, treatment, and surgical imaging in epilepsy.

Dedicated epilepsy centers are growing in hospitals throughout the USA and abroad, with a continuously increasing role of imaging in multidisciplinary meetings. Imaging is paramount in diagnosis, treatment, and surgical decision-making in lesional and nonlesional epileptic disease. Besides being up-to-date with technical developments in imaging that may make an impact in patient care, familiarity with clinical and surgical aspects of epilepsy is fundamental to better understanding of patient management.

Microstructural Changes within the Basal Ganglia Differ between Parkinson Disease Subtypes.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the substantia nigra has shown promise in detecting and quantifying neurodegeneration in Parkinson disease (PD). It remains unknown, however, whether differences in microstructural changes within the basal ganglia underlie PD motor subtypes. We investigated microstructural changes within the basal ganglia of mild to moderately affected PD patients using DTI and sought to determine if microstructural changes differ between the tremor dominant (TD) and postural instability/gait difficulty (PIGD) subtypes.

Further diffusion tensor imaging contribution in horizontal gaze palsy and progressive scoliosis.

In two siblings with clinical diagnosis of horizontal gaze palsy associated with progressive scoliosis (HGPPS) we could demonstrate by diffusion tensor imaging: (1) An anterior displacement of the transverse pontine fibers; (2) Posterior clumping of the corticospinal, medial lemniscus and central tegmental tracts and of the medial and dorsal longitudinal fasciculi complex; (3) Absent decussation of superior cerebellar peduncle. Those findings can contribute as surrogate markers for the diagnosis.

Sensory and motor deficits in children with cerebral palsy born preterm correlate with diffusion tensor imaging abnormalities in thalamocortical pathways.

Aim: Cerebral palsy (CP) is frequently linked to white matter injury in children born preterm. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a powerful technique providing precise identification of white matter microstructure. We investigated the relationship between DTI-observed thalamocortical (posterior thalamic radiation) injury, motor (corticospinal tract) injury, and sensorimotor function.

Brain metabolism in Rett syndrome: age, clinical, and genotype correlations.

Objective: Brain metabolism, as studied by magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), has been previously shown to be abnormal in Rett syndrome (RTT). This study reports the relation of MRS findings to age, disease severity, and genotype.

Methods: Forty RTT girls (1-14 years old) and 12 age-matched control subjects were examined.

Diffusion tensor imaging in children and adolescents: reproducibility, hemispheric, and age-related differences.

Unlabelled: We evaluated intra-rater, inter-rater, and between-scan reproducibility, hemispheric differences, and the effect of age on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in healthy children (age range 5.5-19.1 years) examined with a clinical diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) protocol at 1.