A call for better information about epilepsy: The next of kin perspective.

Purpose: For next of kin (NK) to people with epilepsy (PWE) insufficient knowledge about the disease might have a negative impact on disease management, utilization of the health care system and conveyance of attitudes in the society. The aim of this study was to investigate to which degree Norwegian NK to PWE called for and obtained relevant information about different epilepsy-related issues.

Methods: We invited NK visiting the homepage of the Norwegian Epilepsy Association to complete an online questionnaire regarding information about epilepsy.

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Background: Glomus tumour is a rare benign hypervascular lesion mainly found in the subungual region of the fingers.

Case Presentation: A young, right-handed female experienced episodic and increasing pain in her left thumb. The pain was triggered by cold weather and light pressure.

Post-stroke epilepsy.

Epilepsy as a result of stroke is currently the most rapidly increasing form of epilepsy. The risk of post-stroke epileptogenesis is higher after haemorrhagic stroke than after ischemic stroke. We provide here a brief clinical review of the topic to highlight the misinterpretation and undertreatment of focal epileptic seizures in stroke patients.

Strange episodes during sleep - epilepsy or parasomnia?

In some forms of epilepsy, the seizures occur almost exclusively during sleep. This is particularly the case with hypermotor frontal lobe seizures. Clinically it can be difficult to distinguish such seizures from parasomnias and psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

Stress biomarkers in adult patients with drug-resistant epilepsy on a modified Atkins diet: A prospective study.

Objective: Ketogenic diets like the modified Atkins diet (MAD) are increasingly used in patients with refractory epilepsy. For epilepsy patients, stress is a well-known seizure-precipitating factor. New possibilities for measuring biomarkers of stress are now available.

Health-related quality of life in adults with drug-resistant focal epilepsy treated with modified Atkins diet in a randomized clinical trial.

Ketogenic diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, is an established treatment for patients with severe epilepsy. We have previously reported a moderate reduction in seizure frequency after treatment with a modified Atkins diet. This study aimed to see whether dietary therapy impacts patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Temporal lobe epilepsy.

The temporal lobes are the part of the brain most likely to give rise to epileptic seizures. Seizures originating in the temporal lobes vary greatly in character; some may be so unusual that they are not even recognised as epileptic. For patients who have been diagnosed with hippocampal sclerosis and whose seizures cannot be controlled with drugs, epilepsy surgery may be a good treatment option.

Genome-wide decrease in DNA methylation in adults with epilepsy treated with modified ketogenic diet: A prospective study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the modified ketogenic diet on DNA methylation in adults with epilepsy.

Methods: In this prospective study, we investigated the genome-wide DNA methylation in whole blood in 58 adults with epilepsy treated with the modified ketogenic for 12 weeks. Patients were recruited from the National Center for Epilepsy, Norway, from March 1, 2011 to February 28, 2017.

Efficacy, tolerability and pharmacokinetic variability of brivaracetam in adults with difficult-to-treat epilepsy.

Purpose: Brivaracetam (BRV) is one of our latest antiseizure medications (ASMs). It is an analogue of levetiracetam with limited real-life experience. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical experience with BRV with focus on efficacy, tolerability and pharmacokinetic variability among adult patients with difficult-to-treat epilepsy.

Substantial early changes in bone and calcium metabolism among adult pharmacoresistant epilepsy patients on a modified Atkins diet.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the modified Atkins diet (MAD), a variant of the ketogenic diet, has an impact on bone- and calcium (Ca) metabolism.

Methods: Two groups of adult patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsy were investigated. One, the diet group (n = 53), was treated with MAD for 12 weeks, whereas the other, the reference group (n = 28), stayed on their habitual diet in the same period.

Precision treatment with nicotine in autosomal dominant sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (ADSHE): An observational study of clinical outcome and serum cotinine levels in 17 patients.

Purpose: To report the clinical outcome of nicotine exposure in patients with autosomal dominant sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy (ADSHE), along with serum concentrations of the major nicotine metabolite cotinine.

Methods: We recruited 17 ADSHE patients with CHRNA4 mutations (12 with p.S280F and 5 with p.

People with epilepsy still feel stigmatized.

Objectives: Those affected with epilepsy have long been subject to stigmatization. This may have manifold negative effects, for example social isolation, low self-esteem, reduced quality of life and worsening of seizures. In Norway educational programs have been arranged at the National Centre for Epilepsy, aiming at reducing stigma and shame associated with epilepsy, and thereby increase the quality of life for those affected and their families.

Effect and tolerability of perampanel in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.

Objective: Perampanel is one of the most recently approved antiseizure medications. The aim of the present study was to assess clinical efficacy and tolerability, in combination with pharmacokinetic variability, of perampanel treatment in patients at a tertiary referral center for epilepsy.

Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study of patients given perampanel as adjunctive treatment in the period January 2013 - February 2019 at the National Center for Epilepsy at Oslo University Hospital, Norway.

Patient satisfaction with information provided by epilepsy specialist nurses: Results of an online survey.

The aim of this study was to investigate the perspective of Norwegian patients with epilepsy regarding the information that they have received about epilepsy-related issues and to determine whether there was a difference in information received between those who had been followed up by an epilepsy specialist nurse (ESN) and those who had not. Further, were there differences regarding satisfaction with the information between the two groups? We conducted an online survey in close collaboration with the Norwegian Epilepsy Association. A total of 1859 respondents (1182 patients with epilepsy and 677 carers for patients with epilepsy) completed a web-based questionnaire.