OBJECTIVES Although epileptic seizures are an infrequent feature of acute attacks of the neuropsychiatric porphyrias, there are no significant reports of porphyria in chronic epilepsy. This paper attempts to redress the balance. METHODS Three case reports, including detailed laboratory and molecular diagnostics. RESULTS Two patients with variegate porphyria and one with acute intermittent p...

7. M A C L E O D , C M . ; D E K A B A N , A . S . & H U N T , E . — M e m o r y i m p a i r m e n t i n e p i l e p t i c p a t i e n t s : s e l e c t i v e e f f e c t s of p h é n o b a r b i t a l c o n c e n t r a t i o n . S c i e n c e 202:1102, 1978. 8. M A T T S O N , R . H . & C R A M E R , J . A . — P h é n o b a r b i t a l : t o x i c i t y . I n D . M . W o o d b u r y , J . K . ...

Epilepsy is the third most common chronic brain disorder which is characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate seizures. Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common type of refractory epilepsy. Increasing evidence indicates that neuroinflammation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of MTLE. Hundreds of micro-RNAs have been found to be abnormally expressed in epilept...

Catamenial epilepsy refers to changes in the frequency of seizures over the course of the menstrual cycle. A thorough history and detailed review of the patient's seizure diary are imperative to classify the seizures accurately and select the most appropriate antiepileptic treatment. As catamenial epilepsy rarely responds to antiepileptic medications, the physician should regularly revise the t...

The modified Atkins diet is a less restrictive variation of the ketogenic diet. This diet is started on an outpatient basis without a fast, allows unlimited protein and fat, and does not restrict calories or fluids. Recent studies have shown good efficacy and tolerability of this diet in refractory epilepsy. In this review, we discuss the use of the modified Atkins diet in refractory epilepsy.

Febrile illness-related epilepsy syndrome is a catastrophic epileptic encephalopathy that is highly refractory to most antiepileptic drugs leading to high morbidity and mortality. The authors report the use of a pediatric infusion protocol of continuous intravenous magnesium sulfate for the control of seizures in 2 children with febrile illness-related epilepsy syndrome refractory to multiple a...

The prevalence of epilepsy worldwide is around 0.5%-2% of the population. Antiepileptic medications are the first line of treatment in most of the cases but approximately 25%-30% epilepsy patients are refractory to the single or combination therapy. The surgical option for temporal lobe epilepsy is temporal lobectomy, which has its inherent risk of neurological deficits after the surgery. Patie...

Intractable epilepsy can stem from numerous causes, including brain tumors. Here we describe an unusual presentation of a child with medically refractory epilepsy and developmental delay. She was determined to be an atypical case for epilepsy surgery due to the presence of multifocal lesions on MRI and poorly localizable ictal and interictal EEG features. A surgical resection was performed on t...

Recently, cannabis has been suggested as a potential alternative therapy for refractory epilepsy, which affects 30% of epilepsy, both adults and children, who do not respond to current medications. There is a large unmet medical need for new antiepileptics that would not interfere with normal function in patients with refractory epilepsy and conditions associated with refractory seizures. The t...

BACKGROUND There is a lack of data concerning socioeconomic outcome and quality of life (QoL) in patients after status epilepticus (SE) in Germany. PATIENTS AND METHODS Adult patients treated between 2011 and 2015 due to SE at the university hospitals in Frankfurt, Greifswald, and Marburg were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding long-term outcome of at least 3 months after discharge. ...