The clinical features of seven patients with non-ketotic hyperglycaemia who developed focal seizures are presented. All patients were alert except one who was mildly confused. Glucose values varied from 17.8 to 55.1 mmol/l, while calculated osmolarity values were elevated in all cases to a mild or moderate extent (299.1 to 346.5 mmol/l). In three cases diabetes mellitus was a new diagnosis. Fou...

The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Commission on Classification and Terminology has revised concepts, terminology, and approaches for classifying seizures and forms of epilepsy. Generalized and focal are redefined for seizures as occurring in and rapidly engaging bilaterally distributed networks (generalized) and within networks limited to one hemisphere and either discretely loca...

(DGN) explicitly recommend the anticonvulsive agent levetiracetam – in addition to lamotrigine – as the agent of first choice for initial treatment of focal seizures with or without secondary generalisation from the age of 16 years onward. Furthermore, levetiracetam is indicated for additional treatment of myoclonic seizures in adults and adolescents from the age of 12 years onward with juvenil...

By definition, reflex seizures are epileptic events triggered by specific motor, sensory, or cognitive stimulation. Reflex epilepsy is a term reserved for the scenarios in which seizures are exclusively triggered by a specific stimulus like reading or eating [1]. Focal seizures precipitated by somatosensory stimuli often originate in the parietal lobe (somatosensory area II) and present with se...

People with epilepsy are more accident prone than the non-epilepsy population. Bone fractures are most often due to seizure-related falls. However, seizures themselves, in particular generalized tonic-clonic seizures, may also cause fractures, e.g. of the thoracic spine. Here, I present a man who developed focal epilepsy following a subarachnoidal hemorrhage. During a focal motor seizure with l...

PURPOSE To examine fever as a precipitating factor for focal seizures in patients with Panayiotopoulos syndrome (PS) and evaluate the role of SCN1A in PS patients with seizures triggered by fever. METHODS From January 2000 to June 2008, we identified patients referred for seizures who fulfilled the criteria of PS. Patients were divided into two groups, according to the presence (group A) or t...

Since the formal characterization of sleep stages, there have been reports that seizures may preferentially occur in certain phases of sleep. Through ascending cholinergic connections from the brainstem, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is physiologically characterized by low voltage fast activity on the electroencephalogram, REMs, and muscle atonia. Multiple independent studies confirm that, in ...

We present a child with myoclonic seizures, epileptic spasms and generalized epileptiform discharges on scalp EEG. Magnetoencephalography and coherence-phase analysis for scalp EEG suggested focal onset in the left hemisphere. Intracranial video EEG confirmed seizure onset in the left frontal lobe with ictal high-frequency oscillations. Left frontal lobectomy suppressed his seizures. Subsets of...

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder with prevalence of about 1-2% of the world’s population (Mormann, Andrzejak, Elger & Lehnertz, 2007). It is characterized by sudden recurrent and transient disturbances of perception or behaviour resulting from excessive synchronization of cortical neuronal networks; it is a neurological condition in which an individual experiences chronic abnormal bursts of ...

Focal clonic seizures are a frequent epileptic phenomenon. However, there are few data about their pathogenesis. Eleven patients with focal epilepsy who experienced focal clonic seizures during prolonged video-EEG monitoring were included in this study. Nine patients had subdural electrodes on the precentral gyrus and one patient had additional bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) depth electrod...