Distinctive sleep complaints and polysomnographic findings in antibody subgroups of autoimmune limbic encephalitis.

Introduction: Sleep disturbances are being increasingly recognized in association with autoimmune encephalitis (AIE). We investigated the prevalence of sleep-related symptoms and polysomnographic features of patients with AIE and the long-term outcomes in these patients in a multi-center, prospective study from Turkey.

Methods: We prospectively evaluated patients with definite AIE in a common database including demographics, AIE-related and sleep-related symptomatology.

Peri-ictal headache: An underestimated prognostic finding associated with idiopathic epilepsies.

Objective: There are a handful of studies investigating peri-ictal headache (PIH) and its clinical associations in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsies (I/GE). This multi-center study aimed to investigate PIH, which is an ignored comorbid condition in patients with I/GE, by headache experts and epileptologists working together.

Methods: The data were collected from a cross-sectional large study, using two structured questionnaires for headache and epilepsy features, fulfilled by neurologists.

A clinical evaluation of gelastic and dacrystic seizures: a multicenter study.

Background: Gelastic seizures are extremely rare, short-lasting, unprovoked, and uncontrollable laughing attacks. We conducted this retrospective evaluation to determine whether these symptoms, manifesting in different forms, such as cheerful laughter, laughing, smiling, and sobbing had any value in terms of etiology or localization.

Methods: A total of 31 patients who exhibited bouts of laughing or crying and who were under follow-up between 2000 and 2019 at tertiary epilepsy centers were included in the study.

Surround inhibition in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

Objective: In healthy subjects, there is a reduction in the amplitudes of somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) after the simultaneous stimulation of two nerves compared to the sum of separate stimulations. This reduction is due to the inhibition of one area in the cortex after stimulation of the neighboring area, which results from the surround inhibition (SI) phenomenon. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether there was a decrease in SI of SEP in patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME).

Serum endocan and preoperative systemic inflammatory markers in patients with epilepsy.

Objective: The mechanisms underlying epileptogenesis are still a focus of experimental and clinical research. Inflammation and angiogenesis are the two main topics that have been an area of interest recently. The present study assessed serum levels of endocan, an inflammatory and angiogenesis-promoting molecule, and of preoperative inflammatory markers (neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR)) in adult patients undergoing epilepsy surgery.

Recovery function of somatosensory evoked potentials in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

We analysed the recovery function of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) patients. We hypothesized that there may be disinhibition in the recovery of SEPs at 20-100 ms intervals in JME patients. We recorded SEPs and SEP recovery in 19 consecutive patients with JME admitted for a routine follow-up examination, and in a control group composed of 13 healthy subjects who were similar to the patient group regarding age and sex.

Improved decision-making and psychophysiological responses in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy after anterior temporal lobectomy.

The somatic marker hypothesis is an influential model of human decision-making postulating that somatic feedback to the brain enhances decision-making in ambiguous circumstances, i.e. when the probabilities of various outcomes are unknown.

Does Valproic Acid/Na Valproate Suppress Auditory Startle Reflex in Patients With Epilepsy?

Background And Objective: Auditory startle response (ASR) was normal in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy whereas it was suppressed in progressive myoclonic epilepsy. However, both groups were using valproic acid/Na valproate (VPA) in different doses. Therefore, we aimed to analyze whether VPA has an impact on ASR in a cohort of epilepsy.

Anti-Neuronal Autoantibodies in Both Drug Responsive and Resistant Focal Seizures with Unknown Cause.

Background: and Objective Autoimmunity is an emerging field of research in the etiology of different neurological disorders including epilepsy. We aimed to investigate the presence of neuronal autoantibodies in focal epilepsy with unknown cause and their clinical correlates in both drug-responsive and resistant patients.

Method: Between 2009 and 2010 94 patients were prospectively enrolled, had their antibodies tested and clinically followed.

Orienting reaction may help recognition of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Objective: Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are abrupt, paroxysmal changes in behavior or consciousness that may phenomenologically resemble epileptic seizures. Given the known association between anxiety and PNES, we hypothesized that in these subjects there may be evidence that the nervous system is hypersensitive to external stimuli. We aimed to test our hypothesis by means of the auditory startle reaction (ASR).

Compatibility of MRI and FDG-PET findings with histopathological results in patients with focal cortical dysplasia.

Purpose: The present study aimed to determine if the specific characteristics of fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) analyses of the FCD subgroups were compatible with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical findings of the patients in these subgroups.

Methods: This study included 71 patients who had a presurgical evaluation workup performed due to drug-resistant seizures, who underwent epilepsy surgery, and who were histopathologically diagnosed with FCD. Relationships involving MRI and FDG-PET findings and clinical data from pathological subgroups and patients were assessed.

Startle Response in Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy.

Cortical reflex myoclonus is a typical feature of progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME) in which it is accompanied by other types of mostly drug-resistant seizures and progressive neurological signs. Although PME is characterized by cortical hyperexcitability, studies have demonstrated atrophy and degenerative changes in the brainstem in various types of PME. Thus, we have questioned whether any stimuli may trigger a hyperactive response of brainstem reticular formation in PME and investigated the startle reflex in individuals with PME.

Electrophysiological findings in Rasmussen's syndrome.

Rasmussen syndrome is a rare, inflammatory and probably autoimmune disease presenting with epilepsia partialis continua which is generally in the form of myoclonic jerks and involves the upper extremities with or without head involvement. We sought to demonstrate the electrophysiological features in patients with Rasmussen syndrome. We performed continuous electrophysiological recordings of involuntary movement, as well as recordings of startle responses and long latency reflex in three patients with a diagnosis of Rasmussen syndrome.

Survey on Smoking, Consuming Alcohol, and using Illicit Drugs in Patients with Epilepsy.

Introduction: Addiction can be defined as the continuous consumption of addictive substances or repetition of certain behaviors despite adverse consequences. Epilepsy is associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no published data regarding addictions in patients with epilepsy.

Epilepsy Surgery in Children with Lesional Partial Epilepsies.

Aim: Surgery for epilepsy is a significant treatment alternative with favorable outcomes in the pediatric age group. In this study we present the surgical outcomes of pediatric population referred to our center.

Material And Methods: The clinical data of 126 patients (≤18 years) with lesional partial epilepsies operated in our center between 1995- 2011 were evaluated retrospectively.

Enhanced blink reflex recovery in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), which has been attributed to the dysfunction of cortico-thalamic pathway, has been considered to be one of the system epilepsies. However, electrophysiological and functional neuroimaging techniques have revealed the functional involvement of various parts of the central nervous system, also. Here, we aimed to analyze the role of brainstem circuits in JME by using the blink reflex recovery cycle (BRrc).

The role of sleep electroencephalography in patients with new onset epilepsy.

Purpose: An increased propensity for seizures is associated with different stages of the sleep-wake cycle. In this study, we prospectively analyzed patients with new-onset epilepsy and investigated the clinical correlates of the yield obtained from sleep electroencephalography (EEG) recordings in patients with a normal wakefulness EEG.

Methods: All patients admitted to our epilepsy unit due to unprovoked epileptic seizures and not yet treated with antiepileptic drugs were recruited consecutively for the last three years.

Blink reflex in progressive myoclonic epilepsies.

Purpose: Progressive myoclonic epilepsies (PME) include a heterogeneous group of disorders. The brainstem is involved in these disorders, as demonstrated by neuroimaging and autopsy studies. The blink reflex (BR) is characteristically elicited after supraorbital electrical stimulation.

Surgical and anesthesiological considerations of awake craniotomy: Cerrahpasa experience.

Aim: Awake craniotomy (AC) with electrical cortical stimulation has become popular during the last ten years although the basic principles were introduced almost 50 years ago. The aim of this paper is to share with the readers our experience in 25 patients who underwent AC with electrical stimulation.

Material And Methods: Twenty-five patients who underwent AC between 2010 and 2013 are the subjects of this paper.

Misdiagnosis of menstruation-related recurrent hypersomnia as epilepsy in a patient with generalized epileptic discharges.

Recurrent hypersomnias are very rare with two subtypes as Kleine-Levin syndrome and menstruation-related hypersomnia, which is very rarely encountered worldwide. Here, we report a young girl with menstruation-related recurrent hypersomnia, who was misdiagnosed as epilepsy due to co-existing generalized epileptic discharges. The importance of this comorbidity in terms of differential diagnosis of the attacks is discussed.

Auditory startle response is normal in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is hypothesized to originate from the dysfunction of thalamo-cortical circuit. We aimed to analyze any changes in auditory startle response in JME patients to determine the role of brainstem in JME. The responses of 18 JME patients to auditory simulation were recorded over the unilateral orbicularis oculi, masseter, sternocleidomastoid, and extremity muscles.

Re-emergent Tongue Tremor as the Presenting Symptom of Parkinson's Disease.

Background: The most common symptom of Parkinson's disease is the unilateral, typically resting tremor in body parts, most commonly in the upper extremities. However, this finding can spread to the other parts of the body like lips, chin, jaw and tongue during the course of the disease. Nevertheless, we have not come across any Parkinson's disease case presenting with tongue tremor in the literature.

Contribution of FDG-PET in epilepsy surgery: consistency and postoperative results compared with magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography.

Aim: Surgery is a treatment option for medically intractable epilepsy patients. Abnormalities in regional cerebral glucose metabolism, as identified by 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) have predictive prognostic value in evaluating the outcome of epilepsy surgery. This study investigated the efficacy of FDG-PET for delineation of the epileptogenic zone (EZ) by comparing its consistency with other diagnostic tools and surgical outcome.