Epilepsy

What are the risks of anti-seizure meds in pregnancy? Benefits?

New studies shed light on topics such as nonencephalic pain and headache chronicity; benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes and social cognition; and causal triggers of Alzheimer disease onset.

What do the new AAN guidelines on SUDEP offer? Here’s a quick overview of the key facts.

Is it a seizure or something else? Here are 5 tips to assess and treat psychogenic non-epileptic seizures.

The conventional classification of seizure types needed a makeover. To employ the 2017 ILAE classification, a clinician should follow some general rules.

Which came first? Epilepsy or depression? The author sheds light on a complex relationship.

New findings may have an impact on reducing the epilepsy disease burden in future generations.

The anticonvulsant known as Potiga (ezogabine) in the US and as Trobalt (retigabine) in Europe will be discontinued by the manufacturer at the end of June. Details here.

Here is new evidence that the incidence of SUDEP is higher than expected in boys, people with psychiatric comorbidities, and other groups. Details here.

Here’s evidence that ALF may be an important memory disorder in subgroups of patients with epilepsy.

These mobile apps provide tools to record medication details and reminders, first aid instructions, step-by-step recovery guides, and other topics of concern for you and your patient.

May news includes ground-breaking FDA approvals, predictions of Alzheimer disease, and a possible biomarker for mild traumatic brain injury.

A study tested four different efficacy criteria for comparing intravenous antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used to end status epilepticus.

The first study of its kind in Australia examined influenza-associated neurological disease in hospitalized children.

Highlights: imaging the temporal dynamics & cellular architecture of seizures in Dravet syndrome, & reducing risk of spontaneous fetal loss.

The new SUDEP guidelines, co-developed by the AAN & AES and presented this week at the AAN Annual Meeting, provide clarity to health professionals.

What was the impact of add-on cannabidiol treatment in patients aged 2-55 years experiencing drop seizures?

April news includes tools to manage brain injury and predict recovery, new drug hits and misses, and an updated epilepsy classification system.

Experimental data suggesting benefits of cannabinoid comes from purified, standardized preparations that may not translate to real world practice.

Studies include stroke risk with epilepsy, genetic predisposition for ischemic stroke, and dysphagia screening in stroke patients.

March news includes possible brain tumor therapies, a study exploring mechanisms underlying demyelination-induced seizures, and VNS post stroke.

Common presentations between epilepsy and syncope complicate the differential diagnosis, making syncope the most frequent misdiagnosis in epilepsy.

Researchers evaluated several databases to determine whether or not depression has a causative role on epilepsy, or vice versa.

Ten general and disease-specific apps for neurologists include assessment scales, anatomical diagrams, and interactive clinical decision support.

February news includes stroke risk with Alzheimer disease & migraine, neonatal hemorrhagic stroke, and head trauma in sports.

Stroke is the most common cause of epilepsy in older adults, but there is limited information about rates and risk factors in this population.

Previous studies of methylphenidate in epilepsy patients have suffered from small numbers and methodological issues, such as lack of blinding.

January news includes the first FDA-approved drug for spinal muscular atrophy, various epilepsy treatments & vitamin D’s impact on Alzheimer & headache.

Orthostatic hypotension’s effect on cognition in Parkinson disease, testing patients with epilepsy who can drive safely, and carotid web are covered.

Research from AES 2016 explored relationships between epilepsy and other neurological disorders, including Alzheimer disease, MS, stroke, and autism.