Circadian rhythm of blood pressure in patients with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Objective: To determine whether patients with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy present with an alteration in the autonomic circadian regulation of blood pressure.

Methods: A prospective case‒control study was designed, with a case group comprising patients with drug-resistant mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and a control group comprising healthy volunteers. Twenty-four-hour outpatient blood pressure monitoring was performed to assess the existence of a normal (dipping) or altered (non-dipping) circadian pattern.

Epilepsy in elderly patients: does age of onset make a difference?

Introduction: Epilepsy is most frequent in children and elderly people. Today's population is ageing and epilepsy prevalence is increasing. The type of epilepsy and its management change with age.

[Emergency department management of epileptic seizures in patients with epilepsy].

Aim: To analyse the care of patients with epilepsy (PwE) who visit the hospital emergency department (ED) due to an epileptic seizure.

Materials And Methods: Single-centre retrospective observational study, based on the clinical history of the PwE seen in the ED for epileptic seizures between January 2016 and December 2018. Demographic, clinical and ED management variables were collected.

Effectiveness and safety of perampanel monotherapy for focal and generalized tonic-clonic seizures: Experience from a national multicenter registry.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness and tolerability of perampanel (PER) monotherapy in routine clinical practice for the treatment of focal onset and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS).

Methods: This multicenter, retrospective, observational study was conducted in patients aged ≥12 years treated with PER as primary monotherapy or converted to PER monotherapy by progressive reduction of background antiepileptic drugs. Outcomes included retention, responder, and seizure-free rate after 3, 6, and 12 months and tolerability throughout the follow-up.

[Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: long-term prognosis and antiepileptic drug withdrawal].

Background: Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is a classic epileptic syndrome that lacks consensus on the possibility of suspending treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AD).

Method: Retrospective observational study of a series of patients diagnosed with JME with 20 years or more of evolution, focusing on those with withdrawal from AD.

Results: The study involved twenty patients (average age 44.

Epilepsy in elderly patients: does age of onset make a difference?

Introduction: Epilepsy is most frequent in children and elderly people. Today's population is ageing and epilepsy prevalence is increasing. The type of epilepsy and its management change with age.

Familial association of genetic generalised epilepsy with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy through a mutation in .

•We present a family that includes members with phenotypes of generalized epilepsy and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.•Subjects with heterozygous mutation developed epilepsy; a subject with homozygous mutation developed limb-girdle dystrophy.•Mutations in CAPN3 may play a role in the complex genetics of genetic generalized epilepsies.

Perampanel in routine clinical use in idiopathic generalized epilepsy: The 12-month GENERAL study.

Objective: To analyze the effectiveness and tolerability of perampanel across different seizure types in routine clinical care of patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE).

Methods: This multicenter, retrospective, 1-year observational study collected data from patient records at 21 specialist epilepsy units in Spain. All patients who were aged ≥12 years, prescribed perampanel before December 2016, and had a confirmed diagnosis of IGE were included.

Usefulness of electroencephalography for the management of epilepsy in emergency departments.

Introduction: Electroencephalography (EEG) is an essential diagnostic tool in epilepsy. Its use in emergency departments (ED) is usually restricted to the diagnosis and management of non-convulsive status epilepticus (NCSE). However, EDs may also benefit from EEG in the context of other situations in epilepsy.

Eslicarbazepine acetate and carotid intima-media thickness in epileptic patients.

Objective: Evaluate if eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) in combination with other non-inducer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in the treatment of epilepsy may represent a positive impact in the cardiovascular risk profile.

Methods: multicentre, retrospective, observational, non-interventional, real-life study comparing patients treated with cytochrome P450 (CYP) inducer vs. ESL plus non-inducer AEDs.

[Study of the diagnostic agreement on headaches between neurology and primary care].

Introduction: Headache as a symptom is a very common disease and one of the main reasons for consultation in primary care.

Aim: To analyze the characteristics of patients referred from primary care to general neurology whose chief complaint was headache and/or neuralgia and diagnostic agreement.

Patients And Methods: Cross-sectional study of all patients referred from primary care; demographic/clinical variables were collected and diagnostic hypothesis by primary care and general neurology were compared by determining their agreement.

One-year clinical experience of perampanel in Spain: a multicentre study of efficacy and tolerability.

Perampanel, a non-competitive antagonist of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid receptors, is the most recent antiepileptic drug available in Spain, marketed in January 2014. It was initially approved by the European Medicines Agency as adjunctive treatment for partial-onset seizures in patients 12 years and older, but recently also for primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Although clinical trials provide essential information about the drug, they do not reflect daily clinical practice.

[Treatment adherence with levetiracetam: a non-interventionist retrospective observation-based study].

Introduction: Treatment adherence is a factor that is affecting the effectiveness of antiepileptic drugs. Levetiracetam is a drug whose effectiveness and safety is well established and is available in different oral formulations (granulates in sachets, tablets, oral solution), but information on treatment adherence/compliance with these oral formulations is limited.

Aim: To determine treatment adherence with levetiracetam formulations (granulates in sachets, tablets) in adult and elderly people.

Adult Prevalence of Epilepsy in Spain: EPIBERIA, a Population-Based Study.

Background: This study assesses the lifetime and active prevalence of epilepsy in Spain in people older than 18 years.

Methods: EPIBERIA is a population-based epidemiological study of epilepsy prevalence using data from three representative Spanish regions (health districts in Zaragoza, Almería, and Seville) between 2012 and 2013. The study consisted of two phases: screening and confirmation.

The Spanish Society of Neurology's official clinical practice guidelines for epilepsy. Special considerations in epilepsy: comorbidities, women of childbearing age, and elderly patients.

Introduction: The characteristics of some population groups (patients with comorbidities, women of childbearing age, the elderly) may limit epilepsy management. Antiepileptic treatment in these patients may require adjustments.

Development: We searched articles in Pubmed, clinical practice guidelines for epilepsy, and recommendations by the most relevant medical societies regarding epilepsy in special situations (patients with comorbidities, women of childbearing age, the elderly).

Analysis of factors influencing telephone call response rate in an epidemiological study.

Descriptive epidemiology research involves collecting data from large numbers of subjects. Obtaining these data requires approaches designed to achieve maximum participation or response rates among respondents possessing the desired information. We analyze participation and response rates in a population-based epidemiological study though a telephone survey and identify factors implicated in consenting to participate.

[Does medication abuse in patients with chronic migraine influence the effectiveness of preventive treatment with topiramate?].

Introduction: Patients with chronic migraine (CM) and medication abuse are difficult to treat, and have a greater tendency towards chronification and a poorer quality of life than those with other types of headache.

Aim: To evaluate whether the presence of medication abuse lowers the effectiveness of topiramate.

Patients And Methods: A series of patients with CM were grouped according to whether they met abuse criteria or not.

Prognosis in epilepsy: initiating long-term drug therapy.

Introduction: Prognosis in epilepsy refers to the probability of either achieving seizure remission (SR), whether spontaneously or using antiepileptic drugs (AED), or failing to achieve control of epileptic seizures (ES) despite appropriate treatment. Use of AED is recommended after a second unprovoked ES. For a first episode, the decision of whether or not to start drug treatment depends on the risk of recurrence and the advantages or disadvantages of the antiepileptic drug.

The Spanish Neurological Society official clinical practice guidelines in epilepsy.

Unlabelled: Previous Official Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) in Epilepsy were based on expert opinions and developed by the Epilepsy Study Group of the Spanish Neurological Society (GE-SEN). The current CPG in epilepsy is based on the scientific method, which extracts recommendations from published scientific evidence. A reduction in the variability in clinical practice through standardization of medical practice has become its main function.