In vitro models of pharmacosensitive and pharmacoresistant epileptiform activity have been developed on the basis of organotypic slice cultures of hippocampus. Slice cultures (on average 25/animal) are prepared from 6 to 10-day old rats and cultured under 5% CO2. Single neuron and neuron population activities as well as extracellular K concentrations are recorded with microelectrodes and ion se...

We report the case history of an adult who developed seizures with nearly pure visual symptoms due to an occipital vascular lesion. The seizures were characterized by elementary visual hallucinations in the right visual field. Interictally, a dense homonymous hemianopia was demonstrated in the clinical examination and by using perimetry, but was not recognized by the patient himself. The seizur...

A three step synthesis of various thiobarbiturate derivatives 17-24 was established. The first step is mediated by Mn(OAc)₃, in order to generate a carbon-carbon bond between a terminal alkene and malonate. Derivatives 1-8 were obtained in moderate to good yields under mild conditions. This key step allows synthesis of a wide variety of lipophilic thiobarbiturates, which could be tested for the...

Idiopathic epilepsies are genetically determined diseases of the central nervous system characterized by typical epileptic seizures and EEG abnormalities but not associated with structural brain lesions. In recent years, an increasing number of mutations associated with idiopathic epilepsy syndromes were identified in genes encoding subunits of voltage- or ligand-gated ion channels. These encou...

The protective and anticonvulsive efficacy of two prophylactic mixtures (PANPAL consisting of pyridostigmine, benactyzine, and trihexyphenidyle and pyridostigmine plus biperiden) administered prior to the administration of soman in a lethal dose (1.5 LD50) with or without antidotal treatment (atropine + HI-6) was evaluated using rats as experimental animals. The pretreatment was applied 30 and ...

Although ketogenic diet (KD) is an effective alternative therapy for controlling intractable seizures, the anticonvulsant mechanism still remains unclear. Sample entropy (SampEn) provides a generalized measure of regularity in time-series data. To investigate the potential anticonvulsive mechanism of a KD, we analyzed the SampEn of electroencephalography (EEG) data in patients with intractable ...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of the glycine site antagonist of the NMDA receptor, MRZ 2/576 (8-chloro-4-hydroxy-1-oxo-1,2-dihydropyridazino[4,5-b]quinolin-5-oxide choline salt), on the anticonvulsive activity of carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, diphenylhydantoin, phenobarbital and valproate against maximal electroshock (MES)-induced seizures and ethosuximide, valproate a...

objective refractory convulsive status epilepticus (se) which does not respond to first line drugs (benzodiazepines, phenytoin and phenobarbital) heralds an emergency condition in pediatric neurology which can cause irreparable brain damage. there is no consensus on the choice of drug treatment for refractory generalized  convulsive status epilepticus in children. lidocaine is a valuable forgot...