Linear and nonlinear interrelations show fundamentally distinct network structure in preictal intracranial EEG of epilepsy patients.

Resection of the seizure generating tissue can be highly beneficial in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. However, only about half of all patients undergoing surgery get permanently and completely seizure free. Investigating the dependences between intracranial EEG signals adds a multivariate perspective largely unavailable to visual EEG analysis, which is the current clinical practice.

Electromyographic reactivity measured with scalp-EEG contributes to prognostication after cardiac arrest.

Aim: To assess whether stimulus-induced modifications of electromyographic activity observed on scalp EEG have a prognostic value in comatose patients after cardiac arrest.

Methods: 184 adult patients from a multi-centric prospective register who underwent an early EEG after cardiac arrest were included. Auditory and somatosensory stimulation was performed during EEG-recording.

Natalizumab in spinal multiple sclerosis in a daily clinical setting.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the influence of natalizumab (NTZ) treatment on multiple sclerosis course in patients with and without spinal involvement.

Methods: Annualized relapse rate (ARR), disability progression and occurrence of new brain and spinal T2 lesions (N2TL) in 68 spinal (S-P) versus 68 non-spinal matched patients (NS-P) were retrospectively collected and compared between before (2 years) and after NTZ treatment using multivariate regression models.

Results: Mean duration of NTZ treatment was 31.

Factors associated with hopelessness in epileptic patients.

Aim: To investigate factors related to hopelessness in a sample of epileptic patients, including measures of depression and quality of life (QOL).

Methods: Sixty-nine participants were administered the following psychometric instruments: Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and QOL in Epilepsy (QOLIE)-89. Patients were dichotomized into two categories: those affected by epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures vs those having epilepsy with partial seizures.

Two decades of subcutaneous glatiramer acetate injection: current role of the standard dose, and new high-dose low-frequency glatiramer acetate in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis treatment.

Glatiramer acetate, a synthetic amino acid polymer analog of myelin basic protein, is one of the first approved drugs for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Several clinical trials have shown consistent and sustained efficacy of glatiramer acetate 20 mg subcutaneously daily in reducing relapses and new demyelinating lesions on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, as well as comparable efficacy to high-dose interferon beta. Some preclinical and clinical data suggest a neuroprotective role for glatiramer acetate in multiple sclerosis.

Life-threatening asthma attack during prolonged fingolimod treatment: case report.

Background: Fingolimod (FTY) mediates bronchoconstriction by interacting with sphingosine-1-phosphate receptors. The majority of the reported adverse respiratory events occur during the first weeks of treatment.

Case Presentation: A 49-year-old woman developed a life-threatening asthma attack after 6 months of continuous FTY treatment.

Functional MRI of sleep spindles and K-complexes.

Objective: Sleep spindles and K-complexes are EEG hallmarks of non-REM sleep. However, the brain regions generating these discharges and the functional connections of their generators to other regions are not fully known. We investigated the neuroanatomical correlates of spindles and K-complexes using simultaneous EEG and fMRI.

Functional imaging of sleep vertex sharp transients.

Objective: The vertex sharp transient (VST) is an electroencephalographic (EEG) discharge that is an early marker of non-REM sleep. It has been recognized since the beginning of sleep physiology research, but its source and function remain mostly unexplained. We investigated VST generation using functional MRI (fMRI).