Publications by authors named "William Curt LaFrance"
Article Synopsis
- The study examined how cognitive specialists diagnose and manage functional cognitive disorder (FCD) compared to neurodegenerative diseases, using clinical vignettes for assessment.
- Forty-five experts from 12 countries effectively distinguished between FCD and neurodegeneration, accurately diagnosing all neurodegenerative cases, but only 75%-88% of FCD cases were correctly classified due to varied terminology.
- The findings highlight the need for improved agreement on FCD terminology and more research into validation and diagnostic tools, while suggesting that management strategies should include diagnostic communication and referrals for psychotherapy.
Article Synopsis
- - The study aimed to evaluate how consistently neurite orientation dispersion (ODI), neurite density (NDI), and isotropic diffusion (F-ISO) measures can be repeated in healthy individuals and those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) over 18 weeks.
- - The results showed that NDI and ODI had high repeatability in both groups, but healthy controls performed better in certain areas compared to TBI patients.
- - F-ISO showed poorer repeatability for both groups, suggesting that while NDI and ODI are reliable for tracking changes, caution is needed when using F-ISO for longitudinal studies.
Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) represent a distinct, challenging group among those with functional neurologic symptom (conversion) disorders and involve a complex set of symptoms and comorbidities, best evaluated and treated by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians. Multidisciplinary, collaborative care is becoming more common, using evidence-based treatment. Outpatient neurology clinics at sites not currently treating these patients hold potential for providing such a model of care, with coordination of services.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVideo-encephalographic (vEEG) seizure recordings make essential contributions to the differentiation of epilepsy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES). The yield of vEEG examinations can be increased through suggestive seizure manipulation (SSM) (ie, activation/provocation/cessation procedures), but its use has raised ethical concerns. In preparation for guidelines on the investigation of patients with PNES, the ILAE PNES Task Force carried out an international survey to investigate practices of and opinions about SSM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Functional neurological disorder (FND) involves a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions that can present a wide range of neurological symptoms and often coexist with other medical and psychiatric disorders.
- Recent research has made significant progress in understanding the causes of FND through a biopsychosocial lens, but challenges such as stigma, diagnostic criteria, and access to treatment remain.
- This paper discusses treatment strategies, focusing on the importance of clear communication with patients and reviewing evidence-based treatments for specific conditions within FND, while suggesting a framework for future treatment research.
Objective: Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of manual-based treatment for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), but access to mental health care still remains a problem, especially for patients living in areas without medical professionals who treat conversion disorder. Thus, we evaluated patients treated with cognitive behavioral therapy-informed psychotherapy for seizures with clinical video telehealth (CVT). We evaluated neuropsychiatric and seizure treatment outcomes in veterans diagnosed with PNES seen remotely via telehealth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Given the significant impact epilepsy may have on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of individuals with epilepsy and their families, there is increasing clinical interest in evidence-based psychological treatments, aimed at enhancing psychological and seizure-related outcomes for this group. This is an updated version of the original Cochrane Review published in Issue 10, 2017.
Objectives: To assess the impact of psychological treatments for people with epilepsy on HRQOL outcomes.
This article reviews common and clinically important neuropsychiatric aspects of epilepsy. Comorbidities are common, underdiagnosed, and powerfully impact clinical outcomes. Biological, psychological, and social factors contribute to the associations between epilepsy and neuropsychiatric disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiven the significant impact that psychosocial factors and epilepsy treatments can have on the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of individuals with epilepsy and their families, there is great clinical interest in the role of psychological evaluation and treatments to improve HRQOL and comorbidities. Therefore, the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) charged the Psychology Task Force with the development of recommendations for clinical care based on evaluation of the evidence from their recent Cochrane review of psychological treatments in individuals with epilepsy. The literature search for a recent Cochrane review of randomized controlled trials investigating psychological treatments for individuals with epilepsy constitutes the key source of evidence for this article.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Given the significant impact epilepsy can have on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with epilepsy and their families, there is great clinical interest in evidence-based psychological treatments, aimed at enhancing psychological well-being in people with epilepsy. A review of the current evidence was needed to assess the effects of psychological treatments for people with epilepsy on HRQoL outcomes, in order to inform future therapeutic recommendations and research designs.
Objectives: To assess the effects of psychological treatments for people with epilepsy on HRQoL outcomes.