Several medications such as baclofen, amitriptyline and even antiepileptic drugs such as carbamazepine or vigabatrin are known to induce absence status epilepticus in patients with generalized epilepsies. Tiagabine (TGB) is effective in patients with focal epilepsies. However, TGB has also been reported to induce non-convulsive status epilepticus in several patients with focal epilepsies and in...

The full effects of lamotrigine on photo and pattern sensitivity have never been fully studied, although there is some small indication in the literature of a possible beneficial effect. It is the policy of Birmingham Brainwave to substitute lamotrigine for valproate in young women who wish to become pregnant, who have primary generalized epilepsy: we use it as first-line monotherapy in young w...

Recently, association studies have become a popular tool to elucidate the genetic basis of diseases that show a high familial recurrence rate but probably are not caused by one single gene. These diseases, like many of the common forms of idiopathic generalized epilepsy, are thought to be caused by several interacting genes, with perhaps also an environmental component to the disease mechanisms...

The KCC2 cotransporter establishes the low neuronal Cl(-) levels required for GABAA and glycine (Gly) receptor-mediated inhibition, and KCC2 deficiency in model organisms results in network hyperexcitability. However, no mutations in KCC2 have been documented in human disease. Here, we report two non-synonymous functional variants in human KCC2, R952H and R1049C, exhibiting clear statistical as...

Investigators from Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, evaluated the effects of neuropsychological activation (NPA) tasks on epileptiform discharges (ED) in adolescents with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and in comparison with hyperventilation and photic stimulation.

Seizure aggravation by antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is increasingly recognized as a common problem, particularly in idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are one type of the main AEDs, especially in the treatment of status epilepticus. Paradoxical worsening of seizures associated with BZD is uncommon and most reports are among pediatric patients [1–3]. We report the case o...

This chapter focuses on the classification of seizures and epilepsy syndromes based on the International League Against Epilepsy's classification systems from 1981 and 1989, respectively, which are still used today in clinical practice and have formed the basis for a worldwide standardized approach to diagnosing, treating, and studying seizure disorders. This classification system is based on c...

Intermittent Photic Stimulation (IPS) is a well recognized provocation maneuver during EEG recording which helps in identifying underlying photosensitivity. The frequency and characteristics of various responses to photosensitivity among our adult patients was determine. EEGs of subjects > or =15 years from 2003-2006, were reviewed. Two main photosensitive responses were observed: Photoparoxysm...

RATIONALE Tonic status epilepticus (TSE) in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) is not well recognized. The objective of this study is to report episodes of TSE in patients with IGE. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and EEG evaluation of three IGE patients who presented TSE. RESULTS The three patients had mainly clinical features of IGE, but had developed, in...

Twelve cases with circling seizures are presented with their clinical, electroencephalographic and radiological findings. Four patients had symptomatic partial epilepsy, five had cryptogenic partial epilepsy, and the remaining three had idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Three of the patients with symptomatic partial epilepsy had frontal lesion, and one had parito-occipital lesion. Turning direct...