[Good medicinal practice in epilepsy in the elderly]

Epilepsy is a frequent disease in the elderly. Diagnosis must be precise and systematic. Initiation of treatment must be assessed according to epileptic risk and comorbidities. Several treatments exist, but there is no miracle solution. Epileptic patients must be monitored regularly, and their tolerance of treatment monitored. The efficacy of the proposed treatments is generally good.

Two Solitudes: Wilder Penfield, Ewen Cameron, and the Search for a Better Lobotomy

In the 1940s, Wilder Penfield carried out a series of experimental psychosurgeries with the psychiatrist D. Ewen Cameron. This article explores Penfield's brief foray into psychosurgery and uses this episode to re-examine the emergence of his surgical enterprise. Penfield's greatest achievement - the surgical treatment of epilepsy - grew from the same roots as psychosurgery, and the histories of these treatments overlap in surprising ways. Within the contexts of Rockefeller-funded neuropsychiatry and Adolf Meyer's psychobiology, Penfield's frontal lobe operations (including a key operation on his sister) played a crucial role in the development of lobotomy in the 1930s. The combination of ambiguous data and the desire to collaborate with a psychiatrist encouraged Penfield to try to develop a superior operation. However, unlike his collaboration with psychiatrists, Penfield's productive working relationship with psychologists encouraged him to abandon the experimental "gyrectomy" procedure. The story of Penfield's attempt to find a better lobotomy can help us to examine different forms of interdisciplinarity within biomedicine.

Drug interaction between carbamazepine and other antiepileptic drugs in Tunisian epileptic patients

INTRODUCTION

Carbamazepine could be used on monotherapy or associated to other antiepileptic drugs (AED). In these cases, drug interactions should be taken into account.

AIM

To assess the influence of the coadministration of CBZ with other AED on the trough plasmatic concentration (C0) of CBZ in epileptic adults.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective study over a period of 9 years in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology in the Tunisian National Centre "Chalbi Belkahia" of Pharmacovigilance. Our study included samples from adult patients receiving CBZ alone or associated to other AED for epilepsy. Trough plasma CBZ plasma concentrations were measured by an immunological method. Included samples were divided in four groups: i/ group 1 (G1) receiving CBZ as monotherapy, ii/ group 2 (G2) treated by CBZ with an enzyme inducer (phenobarbital or phenytoin), iii/ group 3 (G3) taking CBZ associated to an enzyme inhibitor (valproic acid (VPA)), iv/ group 4 (G4), treated by CBZ associated to enzyme inducer (phenobarbital or phenytoin) and enzyme inhibitor (valproic acid) at the same time.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences between different groups in age, weight and sex ratio. However statistical analysis showed a significant decrease in C0/D CBZ ratio between G1 and G2 and between G1 and G4 (p<0.001). However, the difference was not significant between G1 and G3 (p=1.2044).

CONCLUSION

It is important to check and to prevent the consequences of the interaction between CBZ and other AED in order to avoid inefficiency and toxicity.

Depression in patients with epilepsy: screening, diagnosis and management

Depression is the most frequent psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy patients with a considerable impact on quality of life and a poor prognosis for the response to pharmacological and surgical treatments. The relationship between depression and epilepsy is bidirectional, involving common pathophysiogenic mechanisms. Despite its frequency and its negative impact on the natural course of the epileptic disease, depression is still underdiagnosed and insufficiently treated in these patients. This may be due to the lack of specific training of neurologists for the detection and management of psychiatric comorbidities, or even to the atypical clinical presentation of depressive symptoms in these patients. The management of depression in epileptics is both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, the main objective being to achieve complete remission of depressive symptoms without reducing seizure threshold. This article aims to describe the epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic aspects of depression in patients with epilepsy, in the light of the most recent data in the literature.

[Tuberous sclerosis system: A review]

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder that affects different organs and caused by loss-of-function mutations in one of two genes: TSC1 or TSC2. TSC1 or TSC2 gene mutation lead to dysfunction of hamartin or tuberin, respectively. Hamartin and tuberin form a protein complex that helps regulate cellular proliferation. These proteins form a complex that constitutively inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway, leading to permanent activation of mTOR signaling within all TSC-associated lesions. Major features of TSC include tumors of the brain, skin, heart, lungs and kidneys, seizures and TSC-associated neuropsychiatric disorders, which can include autism spectrum disorder and cognitive disability. These disorders are usually diagnosed in children and adults. Specific guidelines for diagnosis, surveillance, and management have been proposed by the International Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Consensus Group. Several randomized controlled trials led to regulatory approval of the use of mTOR inhibitors for the treatment of renal angiomyolipomas, brain subependymal giant cell astrocytomas, refractory epilepsy and pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis.

[Not Available]

Patients with epilepsy are a high-risk population for severe burns. A retrospective study was conducted to assess burns during epileptic seizure in epileptic patients. The study was conducted in a 20- bed burn ICU in Tunis over the period 01/01/2011 to 30/06/2019. Fifty cases combining burns and epilepsy were reviewed. Twenty patients (11 women and 9 men, sex-ratio 0.6) suffering a burn following an epileptic seizure were included. The average age was 46. Epileptic disease was uncontrolled in 75% of our patients and 35% were not receiving any antiepileptic treatment. Burns were related to domestic accident in 95% of cases, 2/3 of which were related to a fall on a brazier. Lesions were deep in 70% of cases, requiring excision of necrotic tissue. Only two patients benefited from a dermal-epidermal graft. Amputation was necessary in 5 patients. Mortality was 25%, related to refractory septic shock.

Socioeconomic associations of poorly controlled epilepsy in the Republic of Guinea: cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To explore the socioeconomic factors associated with epilepsy in the Republic of Guinea.

METHODS

People living with epilepsy (PLWE) were prospectively recruited at Ignace Deen Hospital, Conakry, in 2018. An instrument exploring household assets as a measure of wealth was designed and administered. Multivariate logistic regression models with fixed effects were fitted to assess the associations of sociodemographic and microeconomic factors with self-reported frequency of seizures in the prior month and regular intake of antiseizure medications (ASMs). Participants were stratified by age group: children (<13 years), adolescents (13-21) and adults (>21).

RESULTS

A total of 285 participants (mean age 19.5 years; 129 females; 106 children, 72 adolescents, 107 adults, median household size 8) had an average of 4.2 seizures in the prior month. 64% were regularly taking ASMs. Direct costs of epilepsy were similar across income strata, averaging 60 USD/month in the lowest and 75 USD/month in the highest wealth quintiles (P = 0.42). The poorest PLWE were more likely to spend their money on traditional treatments (average 35USD/month) than on medical consultations (average 11 USD/month) (P = 0.01), whereas the wealthiest participants were not. Higher seizure frequency was associated with a lower household education level in adolescents and children (P = 0.028; P = 0.026) and with being male (P = 0.009) in children. Adolescents in higher-educated households were more likely to take ASMs (P = 0.004). Boys were more likely to regularly take ASMs than girls (P = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS

Targeted programming for children and adolescents in the households with the lowest education and for girls would help improve epilepsy care in Guinea.

[Epilepsy, medical and nursing news]

So far, the context of care supply does not meet all the needs of patients, especially those with chronic diseases. In epileptology in particular, the impact of the disease on patients' quality of life is serious enough that a lack of or insufficient care is added to critical risks, to those with existing multiple disabilities or the lack of specialised patient follow-up.

Effects of metformin on apoptosis and α-synuclein in a rat model of pentylenetetrazole-induced epilepsy

The present study was designed to examine the possible neuroprotective and antiepileptic effects of metformin (Metf) in a rat model of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced epilepsy and its possible underlying mechanisms. Forty male albino rats were assigned to 4 groups of equal size: (1) normal control (NC) group, (2) Metf group: daily treatment with Metf (200 mg/kg, i.p.) for 2 weeks, (3) PTZ group: treatment with PTZ (50 mg/kg, i.p.) every other day for 2 weeks, and (4) Metf + PTZ group: daily treatment with PTZ and metformin (200 mg/kg, i.p.) for 2 weeks. Administration of PTZ caused a significant increase in seizure score and duration, induced a state of oxidative stress (high malondialdehyde, low reduced glutathione and catalase activity), and led to the upregulation of β-catenin, caspase-3, and its cleavage products, Hsp70 and α-synuclein, in hippocampal regions as well as a significant reduction in seizure latency. While Metf treatment significantly ameliorated PTZ-induced seizures, attenuated oxidative stress, and upregulated α-synuclein and β-catenin expression, it also inhibited caspase-3 activation and the release of the cleavage product and caused more upregulation in Hsp70 expression in hippocampal regions (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the antiepileptic and neuroprotective effects of Metf in PTZ-induced epilepsy might be due to the inhibition of apoptosis, attenuation of oxidative stress and α-synuclein expression, and upregulation of Hsp70.

[Not Available]

A retrospective study was conducted to assess the interactions between epileptic seizure and burn. The study was conducted on all patients treated at the Saint Luc Saint Joseph Hospital Burn Unit from 2000 to 2015 with a diagnosis of epilepsy. Forty-eight cases associating burns and epilepsy were reviewed. Twenty-eight patients had a burn following an epileptic seizure. The average age was 43, and the burned area was 9%. Injuries resulted from contact with hot surface (32%), scald burn (50% - 32% with cooking water and 17.8% by accidental exposure to hot tap water (shower)). Burns by flames were rare (4 cases/28: 14.3%). The burns were deep, and all required surgical treatment by excision - split thickness skin graft. All the cases of tap water burns occurred before 2010 and the changes to hot tap water temperature legislation. Three patients presented a new epileptic seizure during their hospitalization. Primary prevention of domestic accidents, particularly regulation of hot tap water temperature, appears effective. Educating epileptic patients on the importance of therapeutic compliance and the elimination of risky activities during periods of therapeutic modification should further reduce the incidence of seizure-related burns.

[Therapeutic education of epileptic patients and quality of life]

Therapeutic patient education (TPE) is a public health priority. Epilepsy TPE aims to improve quality of life and promote patient independence. Evolution of training and nursing roles, development of personalised support, creation of new tools and including the patient as participant in his course of treatment have modified this therapeutic education. Nursing research projects in TPE are also emerging.

[Research and epilepsy]

Advances in electroencephalography help identify the epileptic zone. It is now possible to locate the source of abnormalities on the patient's magnetic resonance imaging. For this, high resolution electroencephalogram is required. The software for this type of reconstruction are still being developed. If it is only one tool, research is progressing through simulations.

[Epilepsy today]

Epilepsy is a common disease that can express itself in very different forms. The main treatment is medicinal. This debilitating disease has an impact on the patient's quality of life and its management must consider the psychosocial dimension.

[Learning to manage fatigue and stress]

Pascale M. is 51 years old. A state-certified nurse in 1989, she has had epileptic seizures since childhood. She describes the impact of the disease on her career.

[Assistance Dogs for epileptics]

Three dogs trained to detect seizures, to warn their master, to alert those around him and to assist in the return to consciousness, were given to recipients with epilepsy. This is part of the Handi'Chiens initiative, a first in France.

The economic burden of epilepsy in Bhutan

OBJECTIVE

To assess the economic impact of epilepsy in Bhutan, a lower-middle-income country with a universal health care system, but with limited access to neurological care.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted of patients with epilepsy at the Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Referral Hospital from January to August 2016. Data were collected on clinical features, cost of care, impact of epilepsy on school or work and household economic status of participants and matched comparisons (a sibling or neighbour from a household without epilepsy).

RESULTS

A total of 172 individuals were included in the study (130 adults and 42 children). One-third of adults and 20 (48%) children had seizures at least once per month. Mean direct out-of-pocket cost for epilepsy care was 6054 Bhutanese Ngultrum (BTN; 91 USD) per year, of which transportation formed the greatest portion (53%). Direct costs of epilepsy were an average of 3.2% of annual household income. Adults missed 6.8 (standard deviation [SD]: 9.0) days of work or school per year on average, and children missed 18.6 (SD: 34.7) days of school. Among adults, 23 (18%) abandoned employment or school because of epilepsy; seven children (18%) stopped school because of epilepsy. Households with a person with epilepsy had a lower monthly per-person income (6434 BTN) than comparison households without epilepsy (8892 BTN; P = 0.027).

CONCLUSIONS

In Bhutan, despite universal health care services, households of people with epilepsy face a significant economic burden. With many adults and children unable to attend school or work, epilepsy causes a major disruption to individuals' livelihoods.

[Not Available]

The traditional brazier remains a means of cooking and warming for thousands of families in isolated rural areas in Morocco. From simple burns due to accidental contact to limb carbonizations, these burns are all the more serious when they are secondary to epileptic seizures or carbon monoxide poisoning. The sequelae are important in the associated forms, mainly because of delay in management and non-adherence to therapeutic protocols by patients of low socioeconomic status.

[Tools for assisting diagnosis]

Connected objects are revolutionising practices, fulfil patients' needs for autonomy and the need to deploy healthcare provision beyond healthcare facilities. This article illustrates how these tools can be used in the case of epilepsy.

[Life after a neonatal cerebral infarction, the experience of the AVCnn cohort]

The neonatal arterial cerebral infarction is a clinical model for the study of development after early brain damage. The data from the AVCnn cohort, a French multicentre study, show that severe sequelae are rare while the least severe involve numerous areas of activity and concern the majority of children. The cosegregation of different forms of deficiency is significant.

Trimetazidine potentiates the antiepileptic activity and ameliorates the metabolic changes associated with pentylenetetrazole kindling in rats treated with valproic acid

Oxidative stress is implicated in epileptogenesis as well as in the metabolic changes associated with increased risk of atherosclerotic vascular disease in epilepsy. The present work investigated the impact of the antioxidant trimetazidine (TMZ) on the antiepileptic activity of valproic acid (VPA) and on the metabolic and histological changes in hippocampal, aortic, and hepatic tissues associated with epilepsy and (or) VPA. Rats were divided into non-pentylenetetrazole (non-PTZ) group subdivided into control and VPA-treated groups, and PTZ-treated group subdivided into PTZ, PTZ/VPA, PTZ/TMZ, and PTZ/VPA + TMZ groups. VPA treatment in PTZ rats resulted in an antioxidant effect with improvement in oxidative stress, metabolic and histopathological changes induced by PTZ in hippocampus, aortic, and hepatic tissues. TMZ exhibited anticonvulsant activity and potentiated the anticonvulsant effect of VPA. Combination of TMZ with VPA induced a greater reduction in oxidative stress, improvement in the metabolic and histopathological changes compared to VPA treatment. In contrast, VPA administration in non-PTZ-treated rats induced a pro-oxidative effect, associated with metabolic and histopathological changes in aortic and hepatic tissues. These findings suggest that co-administration of TMZ with VPA in epilepsy might antagonize not only the oxidative stress associated with epilepsy but might also counteract a potential pro-oxidative effect of VPA.

[EEG technician-nurse collaboration during stereo-electroencephalography]

Drug-resistant epilepsy has significant repercussions on the daily life of children. Surgery may represent a hope. The nurse and the electroencephalogram technician carry out important teamwork during pre-surgical assessment tests and notably the stereo-electroencephalography.

[Work and epilepsy--facts and phantasies]

Epilepsies can affect ability to work in a certain workplace and reintegration capacity not only due the seizures, but also due to possible accompanying neurological, neuropsychological and psychiatric symptoms. Epileptic seizures can lead to injuries of the patient himself and of other persons. Assessment of this aspect in a certain workplace requires not only a detailed knowledge of the nature of this job, but also of the semiology and frequency of seizures must be considered. Both attacks and concomitant symptoms (e.g. memory impairment, depression, etc.) have to be assessed with regard to prognosis and treatment status. As part of the patient’s duty to cooperate with the social insurance system it is expected that he is concerned about the regular intake of antiepileptic pharmacotherapy, possibly also of psychiatric medications. Epilepsy surgery is, however, not regarded as a reasonable treatment.

[When all hope has gone…well-placed affection remains]

Cédric de Linage experienced coma through his wife, Amélie, after she suffered cardiopulmonary arrest. Here he describes the crucial role, during this period of uncertainty and fear, played by the nursing team. Through their care and day-to-day compassion, the team was able to treat the patient as a fragile but living patient.

[Not Available]

The association of burns and epilepsy is frequent in Morocco. These burns, often recurring, mainly occur in young women living in rural areas. The accidents usually occur in the kitchen and involve falling onto stoves situated on the floor during an epileptic crisis. Such burns may occur during a first attack before epilepsy has been diagnosed although, more often than not, the patient's illness is already known but insufficiently treated and managed. Consequences of these burns, which are always deep, are often tragic considering the sequelae, in patients whose social reintegration is already marred by epilepsy. Treatment should focus on both burns and epilepsy. Preventive measures to keep the epilepsy in check and avoid these sufferers being left alone in proximity to heat sources should be put in place.

[Clinical presentations, etiologies and prognosis of epilepsy in children]

Epilepsy in children is a neurological pathology with very diverse clinical forms and aetiologies. An electroencephalogram is essential for guiding the diagnosis, completed when indicated with imaging examinations. The treatment aims to control the seizures and takes into account the quality of the child's life. Regular follow-up must be provided by a paediatric neurologist specialised in epilepsy.

[Surgical management of epilepsy]

Epilepsy surgery raises hopes, but still remains reserved for a small number of cases of epilepsy resistant to medical treatments. It requires the involvement of multidisciplinary medical and allied health teams with expertise in this field. From the patient's admission through to their discharge, the nurse and the electroencephalogram technician have an essential role to play.

Cysticercosis and epilepsy in rural Tanzania: a community-based case-control and imaging study

OBJECTIVE

To assess the contribution of neurocysticercosis (NCC) to the burden of epilepsy in a rural Tanzanian population.

METHODS

We identified adult people with epilepsy (PWE) in a door-to-door study in an established demographic surveillance site. PWE and community controls were tested for antibodies to Taenia solium, the causative agent of NCC, and all PWE were offered a computed tomography (CT) head scan. Data on household occupancy and sanitation, pig-keeping and pork consumption were collected from PWE and controls and associations with epilepsy were assessed using chi-square or Fisher's exact tests.

RESULTS

Six of 218 PWE had antibodies to T. solium (2.8%; 95% CI 0.6-4.9), compared to none of 174 controls (Fisher's exact test, P = 0.04). Lesions compatible with NCC were seen in eight of 200 CT scans (4.0%; 95% CI 1.3-6.7). A total of 176 PWE had both investigations of whom two had positive serology along with NCC-compatible lesions on CT (1.1%; 95% 0.3-4.0). No associations between epilepsy and any risk factors for NCC were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Neurocysticercosis is present in this population but at a lower prevalence than elsewhere in Tanzania and sub-Saharan Africa. Insights from low-prevalence areas may inform public health interventions designed to reduce the burden of preventable epilepsy.

[Objectives and practical aspects of antiepileptic medication]

Antiepileptics are a group of drugs with various pharmacological properties and mechanisms of action. They are grouped together due to the fact that they are used to treat epilepsy. There are around twenty molecules in this group. Particular care needs to be taken when prescribing them for children as they carry risks.

[The role of the nurse in the patient education of young epileptic patients]

An epileptic seizure in a child is a major source of anxiety and turns the family's everyday life upside down. Through therapeutic education, the nurse guides the families towards the autonomous management of the seizures, antiepileptic treatments, adaptations to daily life and potential comorbidities.

[Social and cultural representations in epilepsy awareness]

Representations relating to epilepsy have evolved over the centuries, but the manifestations of epilepsy awaken archaic images linked to death, violence and disgust. Indeed, the generalised epileptic seizure symbolises a rupture with the surrounding environment, "informs it", through the loss of social codes which it causes. The social and cultural context, as well as medical knowledge, influences the representations of the disease. As a result, popular knowledge is founded on the social and cultural representations of a given era, in a given society.

[Experience of a chronic condition and psychological support of the child with epilepsy]

Epilepsy is a chronic condition with extremely variable consequences in children and can disrupt their development. Children who have epilepsy can present cognitive, behavioural and psychological disorders. The psychological follow-up forms part of a global care management of the child and their family, enabling everyone to express their own experience of the condition. This support helps them to develop strategies to face up to epilepsy and preserve their quality of life.

Nodding syndrome since 2012: recent progress, challenges and recommendations for future research

We aim to review the current epidemiology of nodding syndrome (NS) and discuss relevant gaps in research. NS and convulsive epilepsy of unknown aetiology are clustered within the same villages and families in onchocerciasis-endemic areas. They are therefore potentially different clinical expressions of the same disease. It has been difficult to perform full autopsies on NS patients who die in remote villages. Adequate fixation of tissue immediately after death is critical for the examination of brain tissue. Therefore, post-mortem transsphenoidal brain biopsies, performed immediately after death by trained nurses, will provide the best option for obtaining tissue for analysis. We suspect that certain blackflies in onchocerciasis-endemic areas may transmit a novel pathogen that could cause NS and epilepsy. This is supported by a recent drop in the number of new NS cases coinciding with vector control activities aimed at reducing blackfly populations in northern Uganda. We propose that metagenomic studies of human samples, blackflies and microfilariae are conducted to screen for pathogens, and that a clinical trial is planned to evaluate the impact of larviciding against NS and epilepsy epidemics.

[Neurological complications in cancer patients]

Neurological symptoms in cancer patients have a great impact on quality of life and need an interdisciplinary approach. They lead to significant impairment in activities of daily living (gait disorders, dizziness), a loss of patients independency (vegetative disturbances, wheel-chair dependency) and interfere with social activities (ban of driving in case of epilepsy). In this article we describe three main and serious neurological problems in the context of oncological patients. These are chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy, malignant spinal cord compression and epileptic seizures. Our aim is to increase the awareness of neurological complications in cancer patients to improve patients care.

[When skin biopsy may label an epilepsy]

La maladie de Lafora (ML) représente une forme rare et grave d’épilepsie myoclonique progressive. C'est une affection à transmission autosomique récessive, hétérogène sur le plan génétique. Nous rapportons le cas d'une adolescente de 16 ans, issue de parents consanguins de premier degré, qui présente depuis l’âge de 14 ans des crises d’épilepsie et des myoclonies. L'examen neurologique a montré un syndrome cérébelleux et une détérioration intellectuelle. La biopsie cutanée était indispensable pour orienter le diagnostic. La ML a un pronostic constamment fatal. L’étude histologique confirme le diagnostic et l’étude moléculaire peut aider à établir un conseil génétique.