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New Trends in Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Clinical Neurology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2024) | Viewed by 2725

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Neurology-Biomagnetism, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
Interests: temporal lobe epilepsy; epilepsy; electrocorticography; magnetoencephalography; drug resistant epilepsy; magnetic resonance imaging

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Guest Editor
Department of Neurology, Christian Doppler Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Ignaz Harrer Str 79, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria
Interests: neurophysiology; neurological diseases; cognitive neuroscience; neuroimaging; neuroscience; neurodegeneration; neurorehabilitation; treatment; memory; neurodegenerative diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Epilepsies are one of most frequent chronic neurological disorders occurring as a consequence of different aetiologies, e.g., genetic, traumatic, tumoral, vascular, degenerative and inflammatory origin. The spectrum of clinical signs is widely diversified and includes motoric, sensoric, psychical or autonomic phenomena. The disability, more often than not, is restricted to the seizure time only. Secondary health conditions can lead to psychosocial problems, stress, social discrimination and reduced employment prospects. Patients with epilepsy also have a higher risk of comorbidities, mental health problems, depression and SUDEP. It is therefore critical that improvements in early diagnosis, precise information of structural pathology (imaging) or localization (noninvasively by EEG/MEG), individually optimized drug treatment and epilepsy surgery become more advanced and that improvements be informed by evidence-based research. Accordingly, we are announcing a new Special Issue entitled “New Trends in Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy. We invite researchers to submit original research and systematic reviews that investigate features of the nature, diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, including the presentation of novel interventions that constitute an advance in epilepsy management.

Prof. Dr. Herrmann Stefan
Prof. Dr. Eugen Trinka
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • epilepsy
  • aetiology
  • diagnosis
  • high resolution imaging
  • treatment
  • anti-seizure medication
  • electrophysiology
  • surgery

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2055 KiB  
Article
The Influence of Climatic Factors on the Provocation of Epileptic Seizures
by Thilo Hammen, Sebastian Treib, Philipp Treib, Hermann Stefan, Hajo M. Hamer, Ralf Landwehr, Lynn Lohmann, Sebastian Koch, Johannes Treib and Werner Adler
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(12), 3404; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13123404 - 11 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: Recent studies provide the first indications of the impact of climate factors on human health, especially with individuals already grappling with internal and neurological conditions being particularly vulnerable. In the face of escalating climate change, our research delves into the specific influence [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Recent studies provide the first indications of the impact of climate factors on human health, especially with individuals already grappling with internal and neurological conditions being particularly vulnerable. In the face of escalating climate change, our research delves into the specific influence of a spectrum of climatic factors and seasonal variations on the hospital admissions of patients receiving treatment for epileptic seizures at our clinic in Kaiserslautern. Methods: Our study encompassed data from 9366 epilepsy patients who were admitted to hospital due to epileptic seizures. We considered seven climate parameters that Germany’s National Meteorological Service made available. We employed the Kruskal–Wallis test to examine the correlation between the frequency of admittance to our hospital in the mentioned patient group and seasons. Furthermore, we used conditional Poisson regression and distributed lag linear models (DLMs) to scrutinize the coherence of the frequency of patient admittance and the investigated climate parameters. The mentioned parameters were also analyzed in a subgroup analysis regarding the gender and age of patients and the classification of seizures according to ILAE 2017. Results: Our results demonstrate that climatic factors, such as precipitation and air pressure, can increase the frequency of hospital admissions for seizures in patients with general-onset epilepsy. In contrast, patients with focal seizures are less prone to climatic changes. Consequently, admittance to the hospital for seizures is less affected by climatic factors in the latter patient group. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that climatic factors are possible trigger factors for the provocation of seizures, particularly in patients with generalized seizures. This was determined indirectly by analyzing the frequency of seizure-related emergency admissions and their relation to prevailing climate factors. Our study is consistent with other studies showing that climate factors, such as cerebral infarcts or cerebral hemorrhages, influence patients’ health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy)
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Review

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14 pages, 403 KiB  
Review
MEG in MRI-Negative Patients with Focal Epilepsy
by Rudolf Kreidenhuber, Kai-Nicolas Poppert, Matthias Mauritz, Hajo M. Hamer, Daniel Delev, Oliver Schnell and Stefan Rampp
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(19), 5746; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13195746 - 26 Sep 2024
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Abstract
Objectives: To review the evidence on the clinical value of magnetic source imaging (MSI) in patients with refractory focal epilepsy without evidence for an epileptogenic lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI-negative” or “non-lesional MRI”). Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search on PUBMED, [...] Read more.
Objectives: To review the evidence on the clinical value of magnetic source imaging (MSI) in patients with refractory focal epilepsy without evidence for an epileptogenic lesion on magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI-negative” or “non-lesional MRI”). Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search on PUBMED, which was extended by researchrabbit.ai using predefined criteria to identify studies that applied MSI in MRI-negative patients with epilepsy. We extracted data on patient characteristics, MSI methods, localization results, surgical outcomes, and correlation with other modalities. Results: We included 23 studies with a total of 512 non-lesional epilepsy patients who underwent MSI. Most studies used equivalent current dipole (ECD) models to estimate the sources of interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs). MEG detected IEDs in 32–100% of patients. MSI results were concordant with other modalities, such as EEG, PET, and SPECT, in 3892% of cases. If MSI concordant surgery was performed, 52–89% of patients achieved seizure freedom. MSI contributed to the decision-making process in 28–75% of cases and altered the surgical plan in 5–33% of cases. Conclusions: MSI is a valuable diagnostic tool for MRI-negative patients with epilepsy, as it can detect and localize IEDs with high accuracy and sensitivity, and provides useful information for surgical planning and predicts outcomes. MSI can also complement and refine the results of other modalities, such as EEG and PET, and optimize the use of invasive recordings. MSI should be considered as part of the presurgical evaluation, especially in patients with non-lesional refractory epilepsy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy)
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19 pages, 345 KiB  
Review
New Pharmacological Therapies in the Treatment of Epilepsy in the Pediatric Population
by Karolina Daniłowska, Natalia Picheta, Dominika Żyła, Julia Piekarz, Katarzyna Zych and Paulina Gil-Kulik
J. Clin. Med. 2024, 13(12), 3567; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13123567 - 18 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by abnormal brain neuron activity, predisposing individuals to seizures. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) categorizes epilepsy into the following groups: focal, generalized, generalized and focal, and unknown. Infants are the most vulnerable pediatric group to the condition, [...] Read more.
Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by abnormal brain neuron activity, predisposing individuals to seizures. The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) categorizes epilepsy into the following groups: focal, generalized, generalized and focal, and unknown. Infants are the most vulnerable pediatric group to the condition, with the cause of epilepsy development being attributed to congenital brain developmental defects, white matter damage, intraventricular hemorrhage, perinatal hypoxic-ischemic injury, perinatal stroke, or genetic factors such as mutations in the Sodium Channel Protein Type 1 Subunit Alpha (SCN1A) gene. Due to the risks associated with this condition, we have investigated how the latest pharmacological treatments for epilepsy in children impact the reduction or complete elimination of seizures. We reviewed literature from 2018 to 2024, focusing on the age group from 1 month to 18 years old, with some studies including this age group as well as older individuals. The significance of this review is to present and compile research findings on the latest antiseizure drugs (ASDs), their effectiveness, dosing, and adverse effects in the pediatric population, which can contribute to selecting the best drug for a particular patient. The medications described in this review have shown significant efficacy and safety in the studied patient group, outweighing the observed adverse effects. The main aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of the current state of knowledge regarding the newest pharmacotherapy for childhood epilepsy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Trends in Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy)
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