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...

Commentary Seizure clustering is a common occurrence in many types of epilepsy. As with any phenomenon distributed unevenly, the human mind strives to find explanations for periods of relative quiescence interspersed with periods of prominent activity. Women with epilepsy have consistently associated seizure clustering with the menstrual cycle, so much so that there is a name for the phenomenon...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the feasibility of a full-scale randomised controlled trial of a picture booklet to improve quality of life for people with epilepsy and learning disabilities. TRIAL DESIGN A randomised controlled feasibility trial. Randomisation was not blinded and was conducted using a centralised secure database and a blocked 1:1 allocation ratio. SETTING Epilepsy clinics in 1 En...

Epilepsy is known as one of the most frequent neurological diseases, characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate epileptic seizures. Oxidative stress is believed to directly participate in pathways leading to neurodegeneration, which serves as the most important propagating factor, leading to the epileptic condition and cognitive decline. Moreover, there is also a growing body of ev...

PURPOSE An elevated level of S-100B in serum is generally considered to be a biochemical marker of nervous tissue damage. According to our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the serum S-100B protein concentration in children with temporal lobe epilepsy. The objective of this study was to measure the serum levels of S-100B protein in pediatric cases with temporal epilepsy. METHODS This case-...

Background: Patients with epilepsy have relatively higher risk for psychopathology and cognitive impairment. The research data indicate that the cognitive impairment and deterioration are due to associated brain damage and not attributable to epilepsy. The objective of the current study is to evaluate the cognitive functions in patients with adequate seizure control, without obvious brain damag...

The modern antiepileptic drug (AED) era--spanning a period of more than 150 years from the first use of bromide in 1857 to 2008--has seen the introduction into clinical practice of a diverse group of effective and safe drugs. These AEDs have provided considerable benefits for those afflicted with epilepsy of all kinds. In as many as 60-70% of newly treated patients, current AEDs lead to satisfa...

BACKGROUND Randomized trials of surgery for epilepsy have not been conducted, because of the difficulties involved in designing and implementing feasible studies. The lack of data supporting the therapeutic usefulness of surgery precludes making strong recommendations for patients with epilepsy. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of surgery for tempora...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to investigate the natural history of epilepsy and response to anti-epileptic drug treatment in patients with Angelman syndrome (AS) in Korea. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 14 patients diagnosed with epilepsy out of a total of 17 patients with a genetic diagnosis of AS. These patients were seen at the Department of Pediatric Neur...