Immediate postoperative course in the pediatric intensive care unit following epilepsy surgery.

Purpose: To describe the immediate postoperative PICU course and short-term outcomes of children undergoing various epilepsy surgeries.

Methods: Single-center, retrospective observational study. All patients younger than 20 years of age who had been admitted to the PICU between 2018 and 2022 following epilepsy surgery were eligible for study entry.

Temporal PLGG and epilepsy.

Temporal lobe epilepsy in children is often secondary to various low-grade glial and glioneural tumors and rarely secondary to mesial temporal sclerosis. Despite the benign nature, tumor-associated TLE in children often becomes refractory over time. Abundant literature has shown the significant advantage of tumor resection compared to conservative treatment, in achieving seizure control, as well as the rates of antiseizure medication reduction.

Beyond words: an investigation of fine motor skills and the verbal communication spectrum in autism.

Introduction: This study investigated the associations between fine motor skills and expressive verbal abilities in a group of 97 autistic participants (age 8-17, mean=12.41) and 46 typically developing youth (age 8-17, mean=12.48).

The prepontine block and its relevance for the development and treatment of hydrocephalus.

Objective: Pulsatile CSF flow patterns include flow through the ventricles to the subarachnoid space and cisterns and from the infra- to the supratentorial subarachnoid space. In this study, we demonstrate how an obstruction at the level of the prepontine space may lead to obstructive hydrocephalus with specific radiological characteristics, as well as the implications for treatment options.

Methods: We retrospectively collected data of patients who underwent surgery between February 2010 and December 2022 for hydrocephalus secondary to a suspected prepontine block.

Epilepsy surgery during infancy: The earlier the better.

This commentary is on the original article by Wu et al. on pages 1215–1225 of this issue.

The Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Interest Group (PESIG) under the auspice of the ISPN Research Committee: Availability of relevant technology and geographical distribution.

Purpose: Epilepsy surgery for pediatric drug-resistant epilepsy has been shown to improve seizure control, enhance patient and family QoL, and reduce mortality. However, diagnostic tools and surgical capacity are less accessible worldwide. The International Society Pediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN) has established a Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Interest Group (PESIG), aiming to enhance global collaboration in research and educational aspects.

Meaningful outcomes for children and their caregivers attending a paediatric brain centre.

Aim: To identify meaningful outcomes of children and their caregivers attending a paediatric brain centre.

Method: We compiled a long list of outcomes of health and functioning of children with brain-related disorders such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, (genetic) neurodevelopmental disorders, and acquired brain injury. We incorporated three perspectives: patients, health care professionals, and published outcome sets.

Common Features Between Stroke Following Varicella in Children and Stroke Following Herpes Zoster in Adults : Varicella-Zoster Virus in Trigeminal Ganglion.

The cerebral arteries are innervated by afferent fibers from the trigeminal ganglia. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) frequently resides in the trigeminal ganglion. Reports of arterial ischemic stroke due to VZV cerebral vasculopathy in adults after herpes zoster have been described for decades.

Expansion of NEUROD2 phenotypes to include developmental delay without seizures.

De novo heterozygous variants in the brain-specific transcription factor Neuronal Differentiation Factor 2 (NEUROD2) have been recently associated with early-onset epileptic encephalopathy and developmental delay. Here, we report an adolescent with developmental delay without seizures who was found to have a novel de novo heterozygous NEUROD2 missense variant, p.(Leu163Pro).

Brain Arteriovenous Malformation Recurrence After Apparent Microsurgical Cure: Increased Risk in Children Who Present With Arteriovenous Malformation Rupture.

Background And Purpose: Do children have an increased risk for brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM) recurrence compared with adults and does this risk vary depending on initial presentation with AVM rupture?

Methods: We retrospectively studied 115 patients initially presenting with brain AVM under age 25 years who underwent complete surgical resection of the AVM as documented by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and had delayed follow-up DSA to evaluate for AVM recurrence after apparent initial cure.

Results: The mean time from baseline DSA to follow-up DSA was 2.3 years, ranging from 0 to 15 years.

Pathogenic variants in cause a genetic disorder characterised by developmental delay/intellectual disability and a spectrum of neurobehavioural phenotypes including autism and ADHD.

Background: Rare variants in hundreds of genes have been implicated in developmental delay (DD), intellectual disability (ID) and neurobehavioural phenotypes. encodes a protein important for RNA silencing. Heterozygous truncating variants have been reported in three patients from large cohorts with autism, but no full phenotypic characterisation was described.

Occipital Headaches and Neuroimaging in Children.

Purpose Of Review: The goal of this review is to outline the prevalence and significance of occipital headaches in children and how they relate to neuroimaging findings. We seek to evaluate the concern that occipital headaches in children are indicative of secondary headache pathology by reviewing the yield of neuroimaging in pediatric patients with occipital headache location.

Recent Findings: Occipital headaches are a common presentation of primary headache disorders in children, seen in 7-16% of children presenting for evaluation of headache and in up to 20% of children diagnosed with migraine in the emergency department.

Experts' opinion about the pediatric secondary headaches diagnostic criteria of the ICHD-3 beta.

Background: The 2013 International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 was published in a beta version to allow clinicians to confirm the validity of the criteria or suggest improvements based on field studies. The aim of this work was to review the Secondary Headache Disorders and Cranial Neuralgias and Other Headache Disorders sections of ICHD-3 beta data on children and adolescents (age 0-18 years) and to suggest changes, additions, and amendments.

Methods: Several experts in childhood headache across the world applied different aspects of ICHD-3 beta in their normal clinical practice.

Experts' opinion about the primary headache diagnostic criteria of the ICHD-3rd edition beta in children and adolescents.

Background: The 2013 International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 (ICHD-3) was published in a beta version to allow the clinicians to confirm the validity of the criteria or to suggest improvements based on field studies. The aim of this work was to review the Primary Headache Disorders Section of ICHD-3 beta data on children and adolescents (age 0-18 years), and to suggest changes, additions, and amendments.

Methods: Several experts in childhood headache across the world applied different aspects of ICHD-3 beta in their normal clinical practice.

Maternal Infections During Pregnancy and Cerebral Palsy in the Child.

Background: Chorioamnionitis is a risk factor for cerebral palsy. The relationship between extra-amniotic infections and cerebral palsy is less well studied. We examined maternal intra-amniotic and extra-amniotic infections and risk of cerebral palsy in the child.

Emergency mental health admissions for children: a naturalistic study.

Objective: Emergency mental health admissions (EA) for children under 13 years are not routinely offered in the UK, which may be related to preconceptions about their safety, appropriateness and acceptability. Our aim was to evaluate routinely offered EA of children in a national unit over a three-year period.

Method: A retrospective, naturalistic study was conducted, comparing EA with planned admissions (PA) in terms of children's functioning on admission and discharge, clinical characteristics, significant risk-related incidents and parental and children satisfaction.

Brain functional domains inform therapeutic interventions in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and pediatric bipolar disorder.

A deeper understanding of how the relationships between impulsivity, reward systems and executive function deficits may be similar or different in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD) is fundamental for better defining phenotypy in these two developmental illnesses, and moving towards improved treatment and intervention. We focus our article on recent neurocognitive and neuroimaging data examining the behavioral and neural aspects of poor behavior regulation, response inhibition and reward systems in ADHD and PBD. In light of recent research evidence, we propose that the common behavioral manifestations of impulsivity in ADHD and PBD may indeed originate from different neural mechanisms mediated by altered reward systems.