The purpose of this open retrospective study was to analyze the efficacy and tolerability of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) in a Norwegian cohort of referral patients with refractory epileptic seizures. A total of 47 patients have been assessed after a mean follow-up time of 2.7 years. Mean age was 34.4 years, mean duration of epilepsy was 25.3 years. Forty-two patients (89%) had localization-re...

Commentary Neurostimulation-based treatments for epilepsy are an alternative for the many patients who remain refractory to standard antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), but modalities such as vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, and responsive neurostimulation require surgical implanta-tion of hardware and are accompanied by attendant risks (1). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), by c...

Dyke-Davidoff-Masson syndrome (DDMS) is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent seizures, facial asymmetry, contralateral hemiplegia, radiologic features of cerebral hemiatrophy, and ipsilateral compensatory hypertrophy of the skull bone and sinuses. We describe three cases of children with DDMS, who initially presented with refractory seizure to the pediatric department of North Bengal Medi...

INTRODUCTION Not all convulsive episodes are due to epilepsy and a number of these have a cardiovascular cause. Failure to identify these patients delays the provision of adequate therapy while at the same time exposes the individual to the risk of injury or death. METHODS We report on three patients who suffered from recurrent convulsive episodes, thought to be epileptic in origin, who were ...

The word, super-refectory is coined recently in status epilepticus (SE) when the seizures continue unabated for a day or more, despite rigorous management , leading to subsequent neuronal injury, most of the times and even death [1]. The SuperRefractory Status Epilepeticus is a rare but not uncommon type of ongoing seizure activity and the exact pathophysiology is still not yet studied well. Th...

Levetiracetam is highly effective as add-on treatment in refractory partial-onset seizures but there are only limited data supporting its benefit in generalised epilepsies. We have reviewed the clinical records of 25 consecutive adult patients with generalised epilepsies (84% females; mean age 34 (range 16-75) years) prescribed levetiracetam for at least six months. The epilepsy was considered ...

PURPOSE Numerous studies have suggested that the ketogenic diet is effective in the treatment of epileptic spasms, even in refractory cases. However, there has been very limited demonstration of prompt and complete (video-EEG confirmed) response. We set out to describe our center's experience with the ketogenic diet in the treatment of children with highly refractory epileptic spasms, with rigo...

OBJECTIVE To assess whether there is a change in seizure activity in dogs with refractory epilepsy that are receiving appropriate doses of phenobarbitone and/or potassium bromide, when gabapentin is added to the therapeutic regimen. DESIGN A prospective study of 17 dogs with a refractory seizure disorder, 16 of which have idiopathic epilepsy. PROCEDURE Patients were stabilised using phenoba...

BACKGROUND Anterior nucleus (AN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a palliative treatment for medically refractory epilepsy. The long-term efficacy and the optimal target localization for AN DBS are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To analyze the long-term efficacy of AN DBS and its predictors. METHODS We performed a retrospective review of 16 patients who underwent AN DBS. We selected only pat...

INTRODUCTION In refractory status epilepticus (SE), because of subcellular maladaptive changes, GABAergic drugs are no longer effective, and the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate (Glu) plays a major role in seizure perpetuation. Perampanel (PER, licensed since 09/2012) is the first orally active noncompetitive AMPA receptor antagonist for adjunctive treatment of refractory focal epilepsy. ...