Outcome of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures following diagnosis in the epilepsy monitoring unit.

Objective: To study the outcome of patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) after their diagnosis in the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU).

Methods: Patients diagnosed in our EMU with definite PNES between January 2009 and May 2023 were contacted by phone, and those who agreed to participate were asked a set of predetermined questions. Comparative analyses were carried out on several variables before and after diagnosis: number of participants with daily PNES, number of visits to the emergency department, number of participants who consulted their general practitioner or a neurologist outside of a scheduled follow-up, number of participants who took antiseizure medications (ASMs) or psychotropic drugs, and employment status.

Abnormal inpatient EEG predicts seizure occurrence independently of renal function.

Purpose: The study aimed to determine prospectively whether there is a significant relationship between renal function as per the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and the occurrence of seizures in patients who have no history of epilepsy and who required an EEG while hospitalized.

Methods: Adult patients who were hospitalized at Hôtel-Dieu de France University Hospital in Beirut and who required routine EEGs were included over a period of 13 months. We excluded critical patients or those with history of epilepsy.

Safety of Newer Disease Modifying Therapies in Multiple Sclerosis.

In the past decade, the therapeutic arsenal for multiple sclerosis has expanded greatly. Newer more potent disease modifying therapies (DMTs) with varying mechanisms of actions are increasingly used early in the disease course. These newer DMTs include oral therapies (teriflunomide, dimethyl fumarate, fingolimod, siponimod, ozanimod, and cladribine) and infusion therapies (natalizumab, alemtuzumab, and ocrelizumab), and are associated with better control of disease activity and long-term outcomes in patients with MS compared to older injectable therapies (interferon beta and glatiramer acetate).