This open, clinical study describes the use of lamotrigine in 200 adults and children with drug resistant epilepsy. Lamotrigine was used largely as add-on therapy and outcome was assessed by the patients, parents and carers and the physician in terms of reduction of seizure frequency, drug side-effects and improvement in quality of life. Of the 200 patients, 70 (35%) were rendered seizure free....

PURPOSE Hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) related epilepsy presents with gelastic seizures (GS), other seizure types and cognitive deterioration. Although seizure origin in GS has been well established, non-GS are poorly characterized. Their relationship with the HH and cognitive deterioration remains poorly understood. We analyzed seizure type, spread pattern in non-GS and their relationship with th...

BACKGROUND In Belgium, new and costly antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are only reimbursed as second-line treatment, after documented treatment with conventional and cheaper AEDs has failed. The objective of this study was to describe the treatment of epilepsy in Belgium and to analyze the impact of the reimbursement restrictions on the choice of AEDs. METHODS Between May and June 2003, a sample of...

Marijuana-based treatment for refractory epilepsy shows promise in surveys, case series, and clinical trials. However, literature on their EEG effects is sparse. Our objective is to analyze the effect of marijuana on EEG in a 24-year-old patient with idiopathic generalized epilepsy treated with cannabis. We blindly reviewed 3 long-term EEGs-a 24-hour study while only on antiepileptic drugs, a 7...

BACKGROUND Epileptic seizures, predominantly or exclusively during sleep had been the focus of attention for many electroencephalographers. Though few epileptic syndromes are associated with sleep seizures (SS) its frequencies in Indian patients is still unknown. AIM To find out the patterns of epilepsies in patients having SS and compare them with patients having wake seizures (WS). SETTIN...

PURPOSE We investigated the various possible reasons for uncontrolled seizures in patients 18 years of age and older to determine the impact of pseudointractability. We also tried to investigate the various forms of pseudointractability. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, all patients 18 years of age and older with their first seizure occurring at least six months prior to the referral da...

Rufinamide is a new antiepileptic drug recently approved as adjunctive treatment for generalized seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. We undertook a retrospective analysis of 77 patients with refractory epilepsy and receiving rufinamide to evaluate the drug's efficacy, tolerability, safety, and dosing schedules. It appeared efficacious in diverse epilepsy syndromes, with the highest responder r...

Mutations in the gene encoding the gamma2 subunit of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABRG2) have been reported to cause childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), febrile seizures (FS), and generalized epilepsy with FS plus (GEFS+). The authors analyzed GABRG2 in 47 unrelated patients with CAE, FS, and GEFS+ and identified a novel mutation that cosegregated with FS. Electrophysiologic stud...