Cognitive adverse events of topiramate in patients with epilepsy and intellectual disability.

Topiramate (TPM) is an effective antiepileptic drug (AED). A high proportion of patients, however, experiences cognitive adverse events (CAEs), especially in verbal fluency, memory spans, and working memory. To our knowledge, CAEs of TPM have not been studied systematically in patients with intellectual disability (ID).

Volume of hippocampal substructures in borderline personality disorder.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) may be associated with smaller hippocampi in comparison to hippocampal size in controls. However, specific pathology in hippocampal substructures (i.e.

Real-life memory and spatial navigation in patients with focal epilepsy: ecological validity of a virtual reality supermarket task.

Ecological assessment and training of real-life cognitive functions such as visual-spatial abilities in patients with epilepsy remain challenging. Some studies have applied virtual reality (VR) paradigms, but external validity of VR programs has not sufficiently been proven. Patients with focal epilepsy (EG, n=14) accomplished an 8-day program in a VR supermarket, which consisted of learning and buying items on a shopping list.

Efficacy and safety of pregabalin in refractory focal epilepsy with and without comorbid anxiety disorders - results of an open-label, parallel group, investigator-initiated, proof-of-concept study.

Anxiety disorders are prevalent in people with epilepsy and severely influence daily living and quality of life. Pregabalin (PGB) is licensed in Germany for the add on-treatment of focal epilepsy and for generalized anxiety disorder in adults. To our knowledge, PGB has not been studied before in patients with epilepsy and comorbid anxiety disorder.

Informing patients about the impact of provocation methods increases the rate of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures during EEG recording.

Observation of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNESs) during video-EEG represents the diagnostic gold standard for PNESs. Different provocative techniques have been used to increase PNES frequency during EEG. These techniques include placebo administration, suggestion strategies, or both.

Ictal autoscopic phenomena and near death experiences: a study of five patients with ictal autoscopies.

Autoscopic phenomena in general may-among other conditions-occur during epileptic seizures and near death experiences. We set the hypothesis that ictal autoscopic phenomena and near death experiences have a similar semiology as measured by the Near Death Experience Questionnaire. We also investigated whether patients with aura before temporal lobe seizures with or without autoscopic phenomena could be distinguished by this questionnaire.

Symptoms and course of intoxication with mesuximide--a case report.

We report on a 31-year-old, female patient who presented with somnolence due to an intoxication by the antiepileptic drug, mesuximide (MSM). The serum concentration of its metabolite n-desmethyl-mesuximide (85.7 mg/L) was above the so-called therapeutic range (10-40 mg/L) but below the concentration range that led to an impairment of consciousness in previous cases according to the German SPC (>150 mg/L).

Unilateral autoscopic phenomena as a lateralizing sign in focal epilepsy.

Positive autoscopic phenomena - autoscopy, heautoscopy and out-of-body experience - may occur in a variety of diseases and also in physiological conditions. They are a rare but probably underreported phenomenon in focal epilepsies. Here, we investigate whether ictal lateralized autoscopic phenomena give lateralizing information about the underlying epileptic focus.

Should patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures be allowed to drive? Recommendations of German experts.

In the absence of evidence-based regulations on the driving ability of patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), we asked 41 German epileptologists via e-mail for their recommendations on driving with PNES. This survey was modeled on an earlier study by Benbadis et al. in the United States and was compared with it.

Retention rate of pregabalin in drug-resistant epilepsy: 1-year follow-up, single-centre observation in 105 consecutive, adult patients.

Objectives: Pregabalin (PGB) is a newer antiepileptic drug (AED) licensed as add-on treatment for partial epilepsy in adults. Efficacy and safety have been proven in several controlled clinical studies. These trials, however, only partially reflect clinical practice.

Predictors of quality of life after resective extratemporal epilepsy surgery in adults in long-term follow-up.

Purpose: To present long-term outcome and predictors of the health related quality of life (HRQOL) in a large group of patients operated for refractory extratemporal epilepsy.

Methods: A German QOLIE-31 questionnaire and additional questions has been mailed for all adult patients operated for extratemporal epilepsy in the Bethel Epilepsy Centre, between 1992 and 2003, 87 patients were eligible for this study.

Results: Seizure freedom, intake of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), presence of AEDs side effect medical comorbidities and driving a car were significantly correlated to HRQOL in all subscales of QOLIE-31.

Long-term outcome of lesional posterior cortical epilepsy surgery in adults.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the short- and long-term seizure outcome and to find predictors of outcome after epilepsy surgery in lesional posterior cortical epilepsies (PCEs).

Methods: The operative outcome in 80 consecutive adult patients with lesional PCEs who underwent resective surgery for intractable partial epilepsy between 1991 and 2006 was retrospectively studied.

Results: The probability of remaining in Engel Class I was 66.

Out-of-body experience and auditory and visual hallucinations in a patient with cardiogenic syncope: Crucial role of cardiac event recorder in establishing the diagnosis.

Out-of-body experience (OBE) and visual and auditory hallucinations can occur in a variety of medical conditions. We describe a 48-year-old male patient who experienced several paroxysmal events with different combinations of the aforementioned symptoms that could finally be attributed to cardiogenic syncope after subcutaneous implantation of an event recorder and that ceased after implantation of a cardiac pacemaker. Hallucinations and OBE are well-known phenomena in syncope.

Long-term outcome after temporal lobe epilepsy surgery in 434 consecutive adult patients.

Object: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery and potential risk factors for seizure recurrence after surgery.

Methods: This retrospective study included 434 consecutive adult patients who underwent TLE surgery at Bethel Epilepsy Centre between 1991 and 2002.

Results: Hippocampal sclerosis was found in 62% of patients, gliosis in 17.

Ambiguous results of an attempt to withdraw barbiturates in epilepsy patients with intellectual disability.

Phenobarbital and primidone frequently have adverse effects on mental functions. Therefore, an attempt was made to taper barbiturates in 85 patients out of a resident population with epilepsy and intellectual disability who were selected according to clinical criteria. The objectives were to reduce the use of barbiturates, to improve the patients' cognitive and psychological state, and to reduce polypharmacy while avoiding seizure exacerbation.

Efficacy and tolerability of pregabalin in patients with difficult-to-treat epilepsy and intellectual disability.

In a retrospective evaluation of 32 inpatients with therapy-resistant epilepsy and intellectual disability, the efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) treatment was assessed after 6 and 12 months. The combined efficacy measure included the percentage reduction in seizure frequency, as well as the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale. Tolerability was assessed using a list of the 10 adverse effects most frequently observed in the regulatory studies and also by the CGI scale.

Outcome of frontal lobe epilepsy surgery in adults.

Our aim is to investigate seizure outcome and prognostic factors after pure frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) surgery. We retrospectively studied the operative outcome in 97 consecutive adult patients who underwent resective surgery for intractable partial epilepsy between 1991 and 2005. Based on Kaplan-Meier, the probability of an Engel Class I outcome was found to be 54.

Long-term outcome of extratemporal epilepsy surgery among 154 adult patients.

Object: The goal of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcome of patients who underwent extratemporal epilepsy surgery and to assess preoperative prognostic factors associated with seizure outcome.

Methods: This retrospective study included 154 consecutive adult patients who underwent epilepsy surgery at Bethel Epilepsy Centre, Bielefeld, Germany between 1991 and 2001. Seizure outcome was categorized based on the modified Engel classification.

Lamotrigine in multihandicapped therapy-resistant epileptic patients.

Objectives: This study evaluated the effects of lamotrigine in routine therapy in the highly selected clientele of the Residential Department of the Bethel Epilepsy Centre.

Patients And Methods: In an open, observational, add-on study design, 125 resident patients with severe therapy-resistant epilepsy and multiple additional handicaps were treated with lamotrigine in titrated doses. Seizure types, monthly seizure frequency, seizure severity, and psychological status were recorded during a 3-month baseline and a 3-month lamotrigine treatment period prior to the key date of this analysis (31 March 1996).

Development of psychosis in patients with epilepsy treated with lamotrigine: report of six cases and review of the literature.

Lamotrigine (LTG) is a generally well-tolerated antiepileptic drug (AED) with broad-spectrum efficacy in several forms of partial and generalized epilepsy and is also licensed for use in bipolar disorder in several countries. We describe six patients who developed a psychotic disorder--in most, but not all, cases schizophrenia-like in character--under treatment with LTG, within a group of about 1400 patients treated with this drug in our center. This indicates that psychosis is a rare adverse event under LTG treatment.

Left-sided interictal epileptic activity induces shift of language lateralization in temporal lobe epilepsy: an fMRI study.

Purpose: By using speech-activated functional MRI (fMRI), we investigated whether the frequency of left-sided interictal epileptic activity (IED: spikes or sharp waves on the EEG) is associated with atypical speech lateralization.

Methods: We investigated 28 patients (13 men, aged 17-59 years) with left-sided mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and 11 patients with right-sided MTLE as a control population. Only patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis with unilateral IED were included.