About one third of patients with epilepsy are refractory to medical treatment. For these patients, alternative treatment options include implantable neurostimulation devices such as vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), and responsive neurostimulation systems (RNS). We conducted a systematic literature review to assess the available evidence on the clinical efficacy of th...

OBJECTIVES Refractory epilepsies (RE), as well as, the surgically correctable syndromes, are of great interest, since they affect the very young population of children and adolescents. The early diagnosis and treatment are very important in preventing the psychosocial disability. Therefore MRI and EEG are highly sensitive methods in the diagnosis and localization of epileptogenic focus, but als...

Surgery for refractory epilepsy is widely used but the efficacy of this treatment for providing a seizure-free outcome and better quality of life remains unclear.This study aimed to update current evidence and to evaluate the effects of surgery on quality of life in patients with refractory epilepsy.A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature were conducted and selected studies incl...

Background: X-linked lissencephaly with ambiguous genitalia (XLAG) is a recently described genetic disorder, in which patients present with lissencephaly, agenesis of the corpus callosum, refractory epilepsy of neonatal onset, acquired microcephaly, and male genotype with ambiguous genitalia. XLAG is responsible for a severe neurological disorder of neonatal onset in boys. A gyration defect con...

PURPOSE Epilepsy surgery can result in complete seizure remission rates of upto 80% in patients with mesial temporal sclerosis and unilateral seizures. The seizure-free rate after surgery for patients with extratemporal nonlesional epilepsy has ranged between 30% and 40%. Some patients with medically refractory localization-related epilepsy cannot be offered surgical resection because of inadeq...

Four patients, diagnosed with refractory epilepsy, were treated with both continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and antiepileptic medication (AEM) and showed > 50% reduction in seizures after 6 months-2 years follow-up. Two patients subsequently had AEM withdrawn and are seizure free and in one such patient, obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has remained the only operative diagnosis. This dua...

Suvasini Sharma, DM* Naveen Sankhyan, DM* Konanki Ramesh, MD Sheffali Gulati, MD Epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures is a rare, infantile epileptic encephalopathy characterized by normal early development, refractory focal seizures arising independently from both hemispheres, and severe psychomotor retardation. In the revised terminology by the International League Against Epileps...

BACKGROUND Angelman syndrome (AS) is a neurogenetic disorder characterized by severe mental retardation, speech disorder, stereotyped jerky movements, and a peculiar behavioral profile, with a happy disposition and outbursts of laughter. Most patients with AS present with epilepsy and suggestive electroencephalographic patterns, which may be used as diagnostic criteria. OBJECTIVE To study epi...

The connection between the episodic conditions, migraine and epilepsy, is widely acknowledged but the mechanism involved is subject to debates. Similarly, the role of maintenance opioid in preventing migraine and related entities is well known but few reports exist on the prophylactic use of opioids in preventing both migraine and epilepsy (migralepsy) proven refractory to the use of convention...

PURPOSE Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) represents a common cause of refractory epilepsy. It is considered a sporadic disorder, but its occasional familial occurrence suggests the involvement of genetic mechanisms. METHODS Siblings with intractable epilepsy were referred for epilepsy surgery evaluation. Both patients were examined using video-EEG monitoring, MRI examination and PET imaging. Th...