Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic: Improving initial investigations with the implementation of a COVID-19 blood request panel.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust produced trust guidelines for the initial blood investigation of COVID-19 inpatients. However, insufficient education meant inconsistent adherence to this guidance.

Objective: To examine whether the implementation of a COVID-19 blood request panel improves adherence to local trust guidelines.

Source imaging of seizure onset predicts surgical outcome in pediatric epilepsy.

Objective: To assess whether ictal electric source imaging (ESI) on low-density scalp EEG can approximate the seizure onset zone (SOZ) location and predict surgical outcome in children with refractory epilepsy undergoing surgery.

Methods: We examined 35 children with refractory epilepsy. We dichotomized surgical outcome into seizure- and non-seizure-free.

Presurgical accuracy of dipole clustering in MRI-negative pediatric patients with epilepsy: Validation against intracranial EEG and resection.

Objective: To assess the utility of interictal magnetic and electric source imaging (MSI and ESI) using dipole clustering in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-negative patients with drug resistant epilepsy (DRE).

Methods: We localized spikes in low-density (LD-EEG) and high-density (HD-EEG) electroencephalography as well as magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings using dipoles from 11 pediatric patients. We computed each dipole's level of clustering and used it to discriminate between clustered and scattered dipoles.

Development, validation, and pilot MRI safety study of a high-resolution, open source, whole body pediatric numerical simulation model.

Numerical body models of children are used for designing medical devices, including but not limited to optical imaging, ultrasound, CT, EEG/MEG, and MRI. These models are used in many clinical and neuroscience research applications, such as radiation safety dosimetric studies and source localization. Although several such adult models have been reported, there are few reports of full-body pediatric models, and those described have several limitations.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on final year medical students in the United Kingdom: a national survey.

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic has resulted in unprecedented public health measures. This has impacted the UK education sector with many universities halting campus-based teaching and examinations. The aim of this study is to identify the impact of COVID-19 on final year medical students' examinations and placements in the United Kingdom (UK) and how it might impact their confidence and preparedness going into their first year of foundation training.

Scalp ripples as prognostic biomarkers of epileptogenicity in pediatric surgery.

Objective: To assess the ability of high-density Electroencephalography (HD-EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) to localize interictal ripples, distinguish between ripples co-occurring with spikes (ripples-on-spike) and independent from spikes (ripples-alone), and evaluate their localizing value as biomarkers of epileptogenicity in children with medically refractory epilepsy.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 20 children who underwent epilepsy surgery. We identified ripples on HD-EEG and MEG data, localized their generators, and compared them with intracranial EEG (icEEG) ripples.

Ictal and interictal source imaging on intracranial EEG predicts epilepsy surgery outcome in children with focal cortical dysplasia.

Objective: To localize the seizure onset zone (SOZ) and irritative zone (IZ) using electric source imaging (ESI) on intracranial EEG (iEEG) and assess their clinical value in predicting epilepsy surgery outcome in children with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD).

Methods: We analyzed iEEG data from 25 children with FCD-associated medically refractory epilepsy (MRE) who underwent surgery. We performed ESI on ictal onset to localize SOZ (ESI-SOZ) and on interictal discharges to localize IZ (ESI-IZ).

Assessing the localization accuracy and clinical utility of electric and magnetic source imaging in children with epilepsy.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy and clinical utility of conventional 21-channel EEG (conv-EEG), 72-channel high-density EEG (HD-EEG) and 306-channel MEG in localizing interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs).

Methods: Twenty-four children who underwent epilepsy surgery were studied. IEDs on conv-EEG, HD-EEG, MEG and intracranial EEG (iEEG) were localized using equivalent current dipoles and dynamical statistical parametric mapping (dSPM).

Altered White Matter Connectivity Associated with Intergyral Brain Disorganization in Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy.

Despite extensive literature showing damages in the sensorimotor projection fibers of children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP), little is known about how these damages affect the global brain network. In this study, we assess the relationship between the structural integrity of sensorimotor projection fibers and the integrity of intergyral association white matter connections in children with HCP. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed in 10 children with HCP and 16 typically developing children.

Magnetoencephalographic Spike Analysis in Patients With Focal Cortical Dysplasia: What Defines a "Dipole Cluster"?

Background: The purpose of this study is to clarify the source distribution patterns of magnetoencephalographic spikes correlated with postsurgical seizure-free outcome in pediatric patients with focal cortical dysplasia.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-two patients with pathologically confirmed focal cortical dysplasia were divided into seizure-free and seizure-persistent groups according to their surgical outcomes based on Engel classification. In each patient, presurgical magnetoencephalography was reviewed.