Neurologic Disorders Affecting the Foot and Ankle.

The neurologic causes of foot and leg dysfunction are reviewed. Disorders causing foot and ankle pain, weakness, or other sensorimotor disturbances often cause difficulty with ambulation and prompt patients to seek medical evaluation. Physical signs and symptoms along with targeted diagnostic testing are needed to come to the correct diagnosis and treatment plan.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in migraine.

Migraine is the most frequent type of headache in children. In the 1980s, scientists first hypothesized a connection between migraine and mitochondrial (mt) disorders. More recent studies have suggested that at least some subtypes of migraine may be related to a mt defect.

Efficacy of lacosamide as adjunctive therapy in children with refractory epilepsy.

Lacosamide is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antiepileptic drug for patients 17 years or older with partial epilepsy. There are sparse data on children. The objective of our study was to evaluate its efficacy/safety in children with refractory epilepsy.

Buccal swab analysis of mitochondrial enzyme deficiency and DNA defects in a child with suspected myoclonic epilepsy and ragged red fibers (MERRF).

The authors describe mitochondrial studies in a 6-year-old patient with a seizure disorder that can be seen in myoclonic epilepsy and ragged red fibers. Using a recently developed noninvasive approach, analysis of buccal mitochondrial enzyme function revealed severe respiratory complex I and IV deficiencies in the patient. In addition, analysis of buccal mitochondrial DNA showed significant amounts of the common 5 kb and 7.