Search results for "Ictal"
showing 10 items of 33 documents
Intracortical facilitation within the migraine motor cortex depends on the stimulation intensity. A paired-pulse TMS study
2018
Abstract Introduction Connectivity within the primary motor cortex can be measured using the paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) paradigm. This evaluates the effect of a first conditioning stimulus on the motor evoked potential (MEP) elicited by a second test stimulus when different interstimulus intervals are used. Aim of the present study was to provide, in patients suffering from migraine without aura (MwoA), additional information on intracortical facilitation (ICF), short intracortical inhibition (SICI), and long intracortical inhibition (LICI), using different intensities of the test stimulus (TS). Methods We enrolled 24 patients with episodic MwoA and 24 age- and sex…
Benign nocturnal alternating hemiplegia of childhood
2018
Objective: To describe the clinical spectrum of benign nocturnal alternating hemiplegia of childhood (BNAHC) including long-term follow-up data of previously published cases and to propose an underlying genetic cause of this disorder. Methods: We studied the medical data of two novel patients, reviewed the literature on BNAHC, and gathered information of the most recent follow-up of published cases regarding the course of episodes, further development, attempted drugs, ancillary investigations, and sequelae. Results: All patients, i.e. two novel cases and twelve patients identified in the literature (13 boys, 1 girl, age at onset four months to three years), experienced episodes of hemipleg…
Allopregnanolone augments epileptiform activity of an in-vitro mouse hippocampal preparation in the first postnatal week.
2019
Abstract In the immature brain the neurotransmitter γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) mediates a membrane depolarization and can contribute to both, inhibition and excitation. Therefore the consequences of a positive modulation of GABA(A) receptors by neurosteroids on epileptiform activity are hard to predict. In order to analyze whether neurosteroids attenuate or exaggerate epileptiform activity in the immature brain, we investigated the effect of the neurosteroid allopregnanolone on epileptiform activity in an in-toto hippocampus preparation of early postnatal mice (postnatal days 4–7) using field potential recordings. These in-vitro experiments revealed that 0.5 μmol/L allopregnanolone had no …
Cyclical changes of cortical excitability and metaplasticity in migraine: evidence from a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation study.
2013
The primary brain dysfunctions leading to the onset of a migraine attack remain largely unknown. Other important open questions concern the mechanisms of initiation, continuation, and termination of migraine pain, and the changes in brain function underlying migraine transformation. Brief trains of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), when applied to the primary motor cortex at suprathreshold intensity (⩾120% of resting motor threshold [RMT]), elicit in healthy subjects a progressive, glutamate-dependent facilitation of the motor evoked potentials (MEP). Conversely, in conditions of increased cortical excitability, the rTMS trains induce inhibitory MEP respons…
Latency of interictal epileptiform discharges in long-term EEG recordings in epilepsy patients.
2015
AbstractPurposeTo assess the latency of interictal epileptiform discharges (IED) and seizures in long-term EEG recordings of patients with epilepsy.MethodIED latency was measured in 210 consecutive patients (mean (SD) age 38.6±13.9 years) with active epilepsy and the relationship to clinical variables was analyzed retrospectively. Median duration of EEG recording was 101.5h (95% confidence interval [CI] 92 to 117h).ResultsIEDs were absent in 45 (21.4%) and present in 165 (78.6%) patients who had a longer duration (p<0.001) and early onset (p<0.01) of epilepsy and more often had IEDs in prior standard EEGs (p<0.01), a structural etiology (OR 2.4, CI: 2.1–2.7), or temporal lobe epilepsy (OR 9…
Increased sensitivity of the neuronal nicotinic receptor alpha-2 subunit causes familial epilepsy with nocturnal wandering and ictal fear
2006
Sleep has traditionally been recognized as a precipitating factor for some forms of epilepsy, although differential diagnosis between some seizure types and parasomnias may be difficult. Autosomal dominant frontal lobe epilepsy is characterized by nocturnal seizures with hyperkinetic automatisms and poorly organized stereotyped movements and has been associated with mutations of the α4 and β2 subunits of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. We performed a clinical and molecular genetic study of a large pedigree segregating sleep-related epilepsy in which seizures are associated with fear sensation, tongue movements, and nocturnal wandering, closely resembling nightmares and sleep …
Interictal Hyperperfusion in the Higher Visual Cortex in Patients With Episodic Migraine.
2019
Background Migraine pathophysiology is complex and probably involves cortical and subcortical alterations. Structural and functional brain imaging studies indicate alterations in the higher order visual cortex in patients with migraine. Arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging (ASL-MRI) is a non-invasive imaging method for assessing changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in vivo. Objective To examine if interictal CBF differs between patients with episodic migraine (EM) with or without aura and healthy controls (HC). Methods We assessed interictal CBF using 2D pseudo-continuous ASL-MRI on a 3 Tesla Philips scanner (University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland) in EM (N = 17, mean age 32.7…
Headache in epilepsy: prevalence and clinical features
2015
Background Headache and epilepsy are two relatively common neurological disorders and their relationship is still a matter of debate. Our aim was to estimate the prevalence and clinical features of inter-ictal (inter-IH) and peri-ictal headache (peri-IH) in patients with epilepsy. Methods All patients aged ≥ 17 years referring to our tertiary Epilepsy Centre were consecutively recruited from March to May 2011 and from March to July 2012. They underwent a semi-structured interview including the International Classification Headache Disorders (ICHD-II) criteria to diagnose the lifetime occurrence of headache.χ2-test, t-test and Mann–Whitney test were used to compare clinical variables in pati…
Ictal functional TCD for the lateralization of the seizure onset zone—a report of two cases
2004
Ictal functional transcranial Doppler sonography (I-fTCD) was used to lateralize the ictal onset zone in the presurgical evaluation of two patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. In one patient, I-fTCD and ictal SPECT were performed simultaneously during EEG-monitoring. In both patients, results were concordant with the ictal SPECT findings, PET and semiology. I-fTCD seems to be an interesting new method to non-invasively lateralize the seizure onset zone with high temporal resolution. I-fTCD and SPECT may give complementary information to lateralize the seizure onset zone.
Impaired Glutamatergic Neurotransmission in Migraine With Aura? Evidence by an Input-Output Curves Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study
2011
(Headache 2011;51:726-733) Objective.— An imbalance between activity of inhibitory and facilitatory intracortical circuits could play a central role in migraine etiology. We used input–output curves to achieve further information about intracortical excitability of motor cortex in migraine with aura. Methods.— Input–output curves were measured in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscle at rest in 12 patients suffering from migraine with aura and 8 healthy subjects. Stimuli were delivered at intensity ranging from 100% to 160% of resting motor threshold with 10-second inter-stimulus intervals. Seven patients were studied before and during treatment with levetiracetam. Results.— Results sho…