Status epilepticus (SE) is an important neurological emergency. It is defined as seizures lasting for 5 minutes or more or recurrent seizures without recovery of consciousness to baseline between the attacks. Refractory SE (RSE) is defined as SE persisting despite sufficient dose of benzodiazepines and at least one antiepileptic drug (AED), irrespective of time. Super refractory SE (SRSE) is defined as SE that continues for 24 hours or more after the use of anesthetic therapy, including cases that recur on weaning of the anesthestic agent. RSE occurs in 23%–48% of the patients and SRSE in approximately 22% of the patients with SE. In general, RSE occurs in patients with new-onset seizures rather than in patients with chronic epilepsy. The etiology of RSE in developing countries is dominated by central nervous system (CNS) infections and head injury compared to stroke and drug withdrawal in the developed countries. The treatment of RSE and SRSE is not evidence based. Following benzodiazepines, the second line antiepileptic drugs include sodium valproate, phenytoin, levetiracetam, and anesthetic drugs such as midazolam, phenobarbital, and propofol. Most intravenous anesthetic drugs produce hypotension and respiratory suppression; therefore, patients with RSE are managed in intensive care units (ICUs). In RSE patients, electroencephalogram (EEG) burst suppression with interburst interval of 2–20 s or even flat EEG has been tried. Recently, concerns have been raised on the safety of burst suppression in RSE and SRSE. The paucity of ICUs in developing countries limits the use of these management protocols. There is a need to explore intravenous AEDs with safer cardiovascular and respiratory profile for the management of SE.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

Approximately 50 million people live with epilepsy worldwide. The aim of this review is to present an overview of the current evidence and management recommendations for evaluation and treatment of patients with epilepsy. Systematic literature reviews were undertaken. A review of contemporary published evidence-based guidelines (American Academy of Neurology, American Epilepsy Society, and the Indian Epilepsy Society) and published peer reviewed scientific publications was done. The guideline is addressed to all clinicians who manage epilepsy patients. Evidence-based recommendations are provided for the evaluation and treatment of the first seizure, use of antiepileptic medications, treatment of status epilepticus, use of epilepsy surgery, and the management of epilepsy in specific populations as well as in unique clinical situations such as neurocysticercosis infestation, brain tumor and human immunodeficiency virus infection. It also addresses the special considerations in women with epilepsy.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

Seizures are common in both primary and metastatic brain tumors, although the rate of seizures differ significantly between the different types of neoplasms. Patients with brain tumor-associated seizures need treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) to prevent recurrence, whereas strong clinical data exists to discourage routine prophylaxis in patients who have not had seizures. The newer AEDs, such as levetiracetam, lamotrigine, lacosamide, topiramate, or pregabalin, are preferable for various reasons, primarily related to the side-effect profile and limited interactions with other drugs. If seizures persist despite initiation of an appropriate monotherapy (in up to 30–40% of cases), additional anticonvulsants may be necessary. Early surgical intervention improves seizure outcomes in individuals with medically refractory epilepsy, especially in patients with a single lesion that is epileptogenic. Data for this review article were compiled by searching for scholarly articles using the following keywords: brain tumor, epilepsy, seizure, tumor-related epilepsy, central nervous system, epidemiology, review, clinical trial, and surgery. Articles were screened for relevance by title and abstract, and selected for review and inclusion based on significant contribution to the topics discussed.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

Focal epilepsy, non-syndromic, is by far the most prevalent epilepsy in adults. Antiepileptic drug (AED) prescription in patients with new-onset focal epilepsy is often challenging. The factors that determine AED of choice depends both on the patient-specific and AED-specific variables. Monotherapy should the initial strategy. Failure to monotherapy can be due to lack of efficacy, severe adverse events, or a hypersensitivity reaction. In such patients, the next strategy should be alternate monotherapy trials. In patients who fail up to three monotherapy trials, duotherapy with drugs having different primary mechanisms of action should be the next step. Multiple duotherapy should be tried before considering adding polytherapy. In spite of such pragmatic strategies, about 25% of patients may never become seizure free for any complete year throughout follow-up. Patients in this group should be evaluated for non-pharmacological treatment options, particularly epilepsy surgery.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

There are more than 10 million persons with epilepsy (PWE) in India. Despite availability of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), there is a large treatment gap varying from 50 to 70% among PWE. For treatable epilepsy, this gap can be attributed to poor education, poverty, cultural beliefs, stigma, and poor healthcare infrastructure; whereas for chronic epilepsy, this gap can be attributed to lack of proper diagnosis and treatment. To prevent, treat, and cure epilepsy, researchers worldwide have made exciting advances across all areas of epilepsy research. Studies carried out in India have also shown substantial progress; however, most of them are focused on the epidemiological aspects of epilepsy, genetic associations, identification, and validation of new AEDs in animal models of epilepsy.Very few studies are reported on understanding the process of epileptogenesis, a dynamic process by which neurons begin to display abnormal firing patterns that cause epileptic seizures. Animal epilepsy models can be used for in depth studies; however, studies conducted on resected brain tissues from epilepsy patients are clinically relevant. Finally, more funding support from government and collaborations among basic research institutes, medical institutes, as well as industries is required to raise the standards of epilepsy research in India.This review focuses on the evaluation of the current status of epilepsy research in India and the need to identify potential anti-epileptogenic interventions.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

Epilepsy surgery in India has seen remarkable advances over the last twenty years. Presently 39 centers are undertaking epilepsy surgeries in India on a regular basis. Out of these, 18 centers have become operational in the last five years. Many of them are well equipped with high end technologies and have expertise to undertake all kinds of epilepsy surgeries. Till July 31^st, 2016, approximately 7143 epilepsy surgeries have been performed in India. Presently, 734 epilepsy surgeries are carried out in India every year representing an increase of approximately 58% over the last three and a half years as compared to the previous years. The reported postoperative outcomes from all these centers are comparable to those reported from the well-established centers in high income countries. Still, only 2 in 1000 eligible patients In India undergo epilepsy surgery, because of which, the enormous surgical treatment gap continues to persist. To tackle this, by the year 2020, India should have at least 60 state-level epilepsy surgery centers (with each undertaking at least 50 surgeries per year) and 6 national centers of excellence. Here, we discuss the current prevalence and practice of epilepsy surgery in India and suggest pragmatic steps and solutions to make epilepsy surgery affordable and widely available. The steps also include a framework for the development of a national epilepsy surgery program.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

In epilepsy management, control of seizures is the prime objective. However, the quality of life is affected by comorbid conditions that include the neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurobehavioural disorders. These are not only reactive processes to a chronic condition but also have a bidirectional relationship, sharing common underlying pathogenesis. This article besides addressing these issues also explores the therapeutic management. A systematic search of PubMed from Jan 2006 to August 2016 was undertaken using the terms “comorbidities” and “epilepsy.” In addition, articles specifically from India and other original papers were selected based on relevance. In this review, the neuropsychiatric, neurobehavioral (mood disorders, behaviour issues, attention deficits, psychosis), and neurologic [cognitive impairment, migraine, SUDEP-Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP)] comorbidities are covered in relation to epilepsy and its treatment. The incidental disorders such as hypertension, diabetes, and cancer that are mentioned in some reports have not been addressed here. Comorbidities in epilepsy are common but poorly understood and often remain unaddressed. The prevalence of comorbid conditions is considerably higher in epilepsy than seen in the general population and other chronic conditions. There is a wide spectrum of secondary disorders that have a marked impact and significantly increase the burden of the primary epilepsy condition. There is a need to acknowledge, screen, and intervene early in newly diagnosed cases for the optimal management of epilepsy.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

In selected patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsies (DRFE), who otherwise are likely to be excluded from epilepsy surgery (ES) because of the absence of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-demonstrable lesion or discordant anatomo-electro-clinical (AEC) data, magnetoencephalography (MEG) may help to generate an AEC hypothesis and stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) may help to verify the hypothesis and proceed with ES. The sensitivity of MEG is much better in localizing the spiking zone in relation to lateral temporal and extratemporal cortical regions compared to the mesial temporal structures. MEG has a dominant role in the presurgical evaluation of patients with MRI-negative DRFEs, insular epilepsies, and recurrent seizures after failed epilepsy surgeries, and in guiding placement of invasive electrodes. Moreover, postoperative seizure freedom is better if MEG spike source localized cortical region is included in the resection. When compared to subdural grid electrode recording, SEEG is less invasive and safer. Those who are otherwise destined to suffer from uncontrolled seizures and their consequences, SEEG guided ES is a worthwhile and a cost-effective option. Depending on the substrate pathology, there is > 80-90% chance of undergoing ES and 60-80% chance of becoming seizure-free following SEEG. Recent noninvasive techniques aimed at better structural imaging, delineating brain connectivity and recording specific intracerebral EEG patterns such as high frequency oscillations might decrease the need for SEEG; but more importantly, make SEEG exploration more goal-directed and hypothesis-driven.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

Epileptic seizures result from abnormal neuronal excitability and synchronization, affecting 0.5–1% of the population worldwide. Although anti-seizure drugs are often effective, a significant number of patients with epilepsy continue to experience refractory seizures and are candidates for surgical resection. Whereas standard presurgical evaluation has relied on intracranial electroencephalography (icEEG) and direct cortical stimulation to identify epileptogenic tissue and areas of cortex for which resection would produce clinical deficits, the invasive nature and limited spatial extent of icEEG has led to the investigation of less invasive imaging modalities as adjunctive tools in the presurgical workup. In the past few decades, functional connectivity MRI has emerged as a promising approach for presurgical mapping, leading to a surge in the number of proposed methods and biomarkers for identifying epileptogenic tissue. This review focuses on recent advances in the use of functional connectivity MRI toward its application for presurgical planning, including epilepsy localization and eloquent cortex mapping.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

Surgical intervention is of proven benefit in an appropriately selected subset of patients with medically refractory temporal lobe epilepsy. In these patients, a surgical cure both provides the quality of life improvement that comes from seizure freedom as well as a survival benefit. However, patients who undergo open surgical intervention may have a worsening in neurobehavioral outcomes. Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) represents a minimally invasive surgical intervention that has shown promise in improving post-operative neurobehavioral outcomes. Further, the minimally invasive nature of this procedure holds the possibility to shift the significant under-penetration of surgical intervention that exists for eligible medically refractory patients. Herein, we review open surgical resection-based techniques and the clinical data to date for LITT.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

This review traces the evolution of epilepsy surgery from its early beginnings in the 20^th century with the development of neurophysiology, and later the identification of pathology in surgical specimens, to the tremendous boost given by direct brain imaging in the late 20^th century. This resulted in the sophisticated methods of presurgical investigation, surgical techniques, and postsurgery care available from the millennium. In parallel, functional surgery, which modifies the nervous system's behaviour, available throughout, has attained a greater place by the use of stimulation.

[ABSTRACT]  [FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]