Rufinamide is an orally active, structurally novel compound (1-[(2,6-difluorophenil1) methyl1]-1 hydro 1,2,3-triazole-4 carboxamide), which is structurally distinct from other anticonvulsant drugs. It was granted orphan drug status for the adjunctive treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in the United States in 2004, and released for use in Europe in 2007. In January 2009, rufinamide was a...

Epilepsy affects 75% to 90% of people with tuberous sclerosis, a multisystem genetic disorder. Although seizures can occur for the first time at any age, onset in infancy or childhood is usual. Around 30% of patients present with infantile spasms that often respond well to treatment with vigabatrin. Later seizures may occur as specific patterns, such as in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, or with combi...

PURPOSE To evaluate the efficacy of rufinamide as an add-on treatment in children and adolescents with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). METHODS The study was an open-label, observational clinical trial of rufinamide as an add-on treatment in intractable LGS patients. This intent-to-treat trial included 4 weeks of scheduled titrated doses and a 12-week maintenance phase with a target dose of 20-...

Hypoparathyroidism is a relatively common side effect of a thyroidectomy and leads to hypocalcemia. Carpopedal spasm and tetany are typical manifestations and usually occur within weeks after surgery. The first signs can be less typical and include movement disorders such as chorea, as well as symptoms of increased intracranial pressure or epileptic seizures. We describe two cases with generali...

We present the case of a patient with ictal monocular nystagmus and ictal diplopia who became seizure-free after resection of a right frontal focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), type 2B. Interictal neuroophthalmological examination showed several beats of a monocular nystagmus and a spasm of the contralateral eye. An exclusively ictal monocular epileptic nystagmus could be an argument for an exclus...

Introduction Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is the most common idiopathic generalized epileptic syndrome, mostly initiated before adolescence. It is usually preceded by myoclonic jerks (sudden brief involuntary muscle spasm) in the second decade of life. JME may be presented with different types of seizure activity. Simple bilateral myoclonic seizure is the most seen clinical presentation of...

Infantile spasms is an age-specific epileptic syndrome associated with poor developmental outcomes and poor response to nearly all traditional antiepileptic drugs except adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). We investigated the protective mechanism of ACTH against brain damage. An infantile spasm rat model induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) in neonate rats was used. Pregnant rats were randoml...

OBJECTIVE To determine the clinical and EEG findings in children with infantile spasms at their initial presentation to the Neurophysiology Department, Children's Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN Observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY The Neurophysiology Department, Children's Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan, from January 2008 to December 2010. METHODOLOGY Children aged < 24 ...

objective in this study, we investigated the changes of the serum levels of thyroidhormones including thyroxine (t4), triiodothyronine (t3), t3 resin uptake andthyroid stimulating hormone (tsh) in epileptic children during treatment withanti-epileptic drugs (aeds) including carbamazepine (cbz), primidone (prm),phenobarbital and valproic acid (vpa). materials and methods this study consisted of ...