Validation of the Georgian version of a Stigma Scale of Epilepsy.

Introduction: Stigma Scale of Epilepsy (SSE), initially developed in Brazil, is accepted worldwide as a sensitive tool for assessing epilepsy-related stigma. We adapted and validated a Georgian version of SSE.

Materials And Methods: The SSE originated in Brazil and was translated into Georgian by three independent experts through forward and backward translation.

Implementing the SCORE system improves the quality of clinical EEG reading.

Objective: To assess whether implementing the freeware version of the SCORE EEG system (Standardized Computer-based Organized Reporting of EEG) leads to improvement in the quality of clinical EEG reading, and whether EEG reports in SCORE EEG are understood and accepted by the referring physicians.

Methods: We generated EEG reports in the conventional, free-text style and then using SCORE EEG, in consecutive patients referred to routine EEG. We used the Georgian translation in the SCORE EEG Free Edition.

Automated detection of absence seizures using a wearable electroencephalographic device: a phase 3 validation study and feasibility of automated behavioral testing.

Objective: Our primary goal was to measure the accuracy of fully automated absence seizure detection, using a wearable electroencephalographic (EEG) device. As a secondary goal, we also tested the feasibility of automated behavioral testing triggered by the automated detection.

Methods: We conducted a phase 3 clinical trial (NCT04615442), with a prospective, multicenter, blinded study design.

A six-year longitudinal study of neurocognitive problems in children with epilepsy.

Introduction: This study describes the specific neuropsychological abnormalities among children with epilepsy (CH-E) living in Georgia.

Methods: A cohort of CH-E and children without epilepsy (CH-NoE), aged 6-13 years, admitted to the epilepsy center of the Institute of Neurology and Neuropsychology from 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2015, was selected and investigated with a structured protocol. Neurological/epileptological assessments were made and neuropsychological testing was done on all study subjects.

Initiating a new national epilepsy surgery program: Experiences gathered in Georgia.

Surgery is the most effective therapeutic approach for medically refractory epilepsies and a safe and cost-efficient treatment in terms of long-term expenses of direct, indirect, and intangible costs. Georgia is a Caucasian low- to middle-income country with a remarkable effort to deal with epileptic diseases, but without an appropriate epilepsy surgery program. To address the needs for such a service in this country, two joint German-Georgian projects were initiated in 2017 and 2019.

Validation of a Georgian version of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E).

Introduction: This study aimed to validate a Georgian version of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E). The distribution of psychiatric disorders was assessed among patients with epilepsy.

Methods: One hundred and thirty consecutive adult patients with epilepsy completed the NDDI-E and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

Cognitive functions in children exposed to antiepileptic drugs in utero - Study in Georgia.

Objective: The cognitive teratogenicity of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) has gained increasing attention in the last decade. The objective of the current study was to assess the effects of AED fetal exposure on the cognitive development of children of mothers with epilepsy from Georgia in a controlled study taking into consideration major confounding factors.

Methods: A prospective cohort group was formed from children and mothers registered in the Georgian National AED-Pregnancy Registry.

Focal EEG features and therapeutic response in patients with juvenile absence and myoclonic epilepsy.

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of focal EEG features in patients with juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE) and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), and to assess their possible influence on therapeutic response.

Methods: Focal EEG features were prospectively scored in 168 consecutive patients. Ninety-six patients were drug-naïve and 72 patients were already on antiepileptic drugs (AEDs): 38 on adequate medication and 34 on inadequate medication.

Perspectives of epilepsy surgery in resource-poor countries: a study in Georgia.

Background: To identify patients with concordant seizure semiology, interictal epileptiform discharges on standard EEG and brain MRI changes to define the patients with pharmacoresistant epilepsy (PRE) who would be suitable for epilepsy surgery according to non-invasive protocol.

Methods: The medical records of the patients with epilepsy seen in Epilepsy Center of Institute of Neurology and Neuropsychology (ECINN) (Tbilisi, Georgia) were reviewed retrospectively. The diagnostic work-up included neurological examination, standard EEG, and MRI.

Premature mortality in a Georgian cohort of people with epilepsy.

Mortality in people with epilepsy has not previously been estimated in Georgia. We identified a prevalent cohort of people with epilepsy from a tertiary referral centre in Tbilisi, Georgia and attempted to establish survivorship status for all. One-way sensitivity analysis estimating mortality rates in those lost to follow-up was also used.

Knowledge, attitudes, and stigma towards epilepsy in different walks of life: a study in Georgia.

We conducted a survey to assess public awareness of epilepsy and stigma expression in different social groups in Tbilisi, Georgia. Respondents were divided into those from a medical or paramedical background, those with a nonmedical professional background, and a group with unskilled workers or unemployed individuals. One thousand and sixteen people completed a Knowledge, Attitude and Perception questionnaire.

Mobile telemonitoring for arrhythmias in outpatients in the Republic of Georgia: a brief report of a pilot study.

As the very first trial of mobile telemedicine in the Republic of Georgia, in June-December 2010 we investigated 35 outpatients with different types of arrhythmia (male/female ratio=16/19; 12-80 years old), among them 5 patients with concomitant epilepsy. The control group comprised 7 clinically healthy sportsmen (soccer players, all men; 15-17 years old), during a 30-min velo ergometer stress test. A three-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) loop recorder (Vitaphone BT 3300; Vitasystems GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) was used in automatic mode, using special LRMA software (MDT, Lázně Bohdaneč, Czech Republic) and a Nokia (Espoo, Finland) model 6730 Symbian phone.

The prevalence and treatment gap of epilepsy in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Introduction: Data on the prevalence of epilepsy and the extent of its treatment gap are important for planning health care delivery for people with epilepsy. The prevalence of active epilepsy in Georgia prior to the social and political re-organization in the early 1990s was estimated at around 5.7 per 1000.