Dravet syndrome (DS) is a genetic encephalopathy that is characterized by severe seizures and prominent co-morbidities (e.g., physical, intellectual disabilities). More than 85% of the DS patients carry an SCN1A mutation (sodium channel, voltage gated, type I alpha subunit). Although numerous anti-epileptic drugs have entered the market since 1990, these drugs often fail to adequately control s...

The association of epilepsy and migraine has been long recognized. Migraine and epilepsy are both chronic disorders with episodic attacks. Furthermore, headache may be a premonitory or postdromic symptom of seizures, and migraine headaches may cause seizures per se (migralepsy). Migraine and epilepsy are comorbid, sharing pathophysiological mechanisms and common clinical features. Several recen...

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a severe epilepsy syndrome characterized by early onset of multiple types of seizures. We report the first case of reflex seizures triggered by diaper change in a girl at 9 months old and 2 years old with a mutation in the SCN1A gene causing DS. Reflex seizures have been reported in patients with DS provoked by increased body temperature or visual stimulation. The case w...

Malformations of cortical development are associated with epilepsy and cognitive dysfunction, and can occur in patients with SCN1A ion channel mutations. We report a novel and subtle bandlike subcortical heterotopia on integrated positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging ( PET-MRI) in a patient with treatment-resistant epilepsy due to a de novo KCNQ1 frameshift mutation. Our case ...

An adult woman with Dravet syndrome (documented SCN1A mutation) experienced a marked reduction in seizures when treated with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine. The seizure reduction may be partly to reductions associated with aging in Dravet patients, but it appears to be due at least in part to the fluoxetine. A prior preliminary study reported that fenfluramine redu...

Genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is characterized by childhood-onset epilepsy syndrome. It involves febrile seizures and a variety of afebrile epileptic seizure types within the same pedigree with autosomal-dominant inheritance. Approximately 10% of individuals with GEFS+ harbor SCN1A, a gene mutation in one of the voltage-gated sodium channel subunits. Considerably less comm...

In this issue of Brain, Brunklaus et al. report a study of 241 patients with Dravet syndrome carrying a SCN1A mutation, with the aim of identifying predictors of developmental outcome and determining specific clinical and demographic characteristics. The electroclinical features of a large cohort were collected and analysed prior to genetic testing. A total of 355 patients were diagnosed with D...