Diagnosis of comorbid migraine without aura in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy based on the gray zone approach to the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3 criteria

BackgroundMigraine without aura (MwoA) is a very frequent and remarkable comorbidity in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy (I/GE). Frequently in clinical practice, diagnosis of MwoA may be challenging despite the guidance of current diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3 (ICHD-3). In this study, we aimed to disclose the diagnostic gaps in the diagnosis of comorbid MwoA, using a zone concept, in patients with I/GEs with headaches who were diagnosed by an experienced headache expert.MethodsIn this multicenter study including 809 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of I/GE with or without headache, 163 patients who were diagnosed by an experienced headache expert as having a comorbid MwoA were reevaluated. Eligible patients were divided into three subgroups, namely, full diagnosis, zone I, and zone II according to their status of fulfilling the ICHD-3 criteria. A Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis was performed to bring out the meaningful predictors when evaluating patients with I/GEs for MwoA comorbidity, using the variables that were significant in the univariate analysis.ResultsLonger headache duration (<4 h) followed by throbbing pain, higher visual analog scale (VAS) scores, increase of pain by physical activity, nausea/vomiting, and photophobia and/or phonophobia are the main distinguishing clinical characteristics of comorbid MwoA in patients with I/GE, for being classified in the full diagnosis group. Despite being not a part of the main ICHD-3 criteria, the presence of associated symptoms mainly osmophobia and also vertigo/dizziness had the distinguishing capability of being classified into zone subgroups. The most common epilepsy syndromes fulfilling full diagnosis criteria (n = 62) in the CART analysis were 48.39% Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy followed by 25.81% epilepsy with generalized tonic-clonic seizures alone.ConclusionLonger headache duration, throbbing pain, increase of pain by physical activity, photophobia and/or phonophobia, presence of vertigo/dizziness, osmophobia, and higher VAS scores are the main supportive associated factors when applying the ICHD-3 criteria for the comorbid MwoA diagnosis in patients with I/GEs. Evaluating these characteristics could be helpful to close the diagnostic gaps in everyday clinical practice and fasten the diagnostic process of comorbid MwoA in patients with I/GEs

Nonconvulsive Status Epilepticus

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) has a wide range of clinical presentations, ranging from confusion to coma accompanied by many kinds of continuous or recurrent epileptic discharges on the electroencephalogram (EEG). It may occur not only in epileptic patients but also in adults with no previous history of epilepsy. EEG is the only reliable method of diagnosing NCSE. The identification of NCSE may be particularly difficult and therefore, a high level of suspicion is essential for early diagnosis. In this review, clinical and electrophysiological findings, types, frequency, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of NCSE are discussed in the light of the relevant literature

Different attitudes in the management of different types of status epilepticus: A survey study among neurologists demonstrating evidence gap

© 2021 Neurological Sciences and Neurophysiology | Published by Wolters Kluwer-Medknow.Purpose: The aim is to identify current diagnostic and therapeutic approach to different types of status epilepticus (SE) including convulsive SE (CSE), non-CSE (NCSE), and epilepsia partialis continua (EPC) to detect unmet needs and problems encountered during the management of these neurological emergencies in our country, Turkey. Methods: The specifically designed SE survey included 31 questions that were related to the incidence, the distribution of etiological causes, the diagnostic process, and the treatment approaches of the neurologists and individual electroencephalography (EEG) facilities of the institutions. Results: The total number of respondents was 152 with a median years of experience in professional practice of 10.8 years (1–39 years). The great majority of the neurologists preferred diazepam plus phenytoin as the first choice drug in the treatment of CSE. Of the respondents, only 55% accepted the SE as refractory after applying the second drug and they monitored these patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Most of the participants (67.7%) did not provide any treatment except the standard medical approaches, while only 39 (30.7%) had used immunotherapy in the treatment of super-refractory SE. Forty-seven respondents (37%) indicated that they had difficulty identifying NCSE on EEG. While 37% of the participants treated EPC patients with preserved consciousness in ICU by general anesthesia, only 15% were previously applied immunotherapy. Strikingly, 41% of the participants stated that they did not feel themselves as sufficiently competent in terms of practical and theoretical knowledge about the management of SE. Conclusion: We demonstrated that there are no standardized attitudes for the management of different types of SE among neurologists. It is worth to emphasize that the neurologists did not feel themselves sufficiently competent in terms of practical and theoretical knowledge, especially with regard to the subtypes of SE

Obsessive-compulsive disorder secondary to bilateral frontal damage due to a closed head injury

Objective: To describe a patient who exhibited obsessive-compulsive disorder and frontal lobe dysfunction signs after a closed head trauma. Background: Recent evidence indicates that frontal-subcortical circuits are involved in the pathogenesis of primary obsessive-compulsive disorder. There are a number of case reports of secondary obsessive-compulsive disorder after lesions involving certain parts of these circuits. Method: Clinical examinations, cognitive and behavioral assessments, and lesion analysis based on magnetic resonance imaging were conducted. Results: The patient displayed marked obsessive-compulsive behavior along with hyperorality and apathy. Magnetic resonance imaging showed symmetrical frontal-polar abnormal signal intensity. Topographic lesion analysis revealed involvement of Brodmann areas 11, 10, 24, 25, and 32. Conclusions: The patient presented in this report had both frontal lobe dysfunction signs and obsessive-compulsive disorder secondary to bilateral frontal damage due to a closed head injury. The etiological significance of head injury and frontal lobe involvement in obsessive-compulsive disorder is discussed in the context of the clinical and neuroimaging findings and of previous series of brain injured patients

Headache in idiopathic/genetic epilepsy: Cluster analysis in a large cohort

Objective The link between headache and epilepsy is more prominent in patients with idiopathic/genetic epilepsy (I/GE). We aimed to investigate the prevalence of headache and to cluster patients with regard to their headache and epilepsy features. Methods Patients aged 6-40 years, with a definite diagnosis of I/GE, were consecutively enrolled. The patients were interviewed using standardized epilepsy and headache questionnaires, and their headache characteristics were investigated by experts in headache. Demographic and clinical variables were analyzed, and patients were clustered according to their epilepsy and headache characteristics using an unsupervised K-means algorithm. Results Among 809 patients, 508 (62.8%) reported having any type of headache; 87.4% had interictal headache, and 41.2% had migraine. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct groups for both adults and children/adolescents. In adults, subjects having a family history of headache, >= 5 headache attacks, duration of headache >= 24 months, headaches lasting >= 1 h, and visual analog scale scores > 5 were grouped in one cluster, and subjects with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), myoclonic seizures, and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) were clustered in this group (Cluster 1). Self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes and epilepsy with GTCS alone were clustered in Cluster 2 with the opposite characteristics. For children/adolescents, the same features as in adult Cluster 1 were clustered in a separate group, except for the presence of JME syndrome and GTCS alone as a seizure type. Focal seizures were clustered in another group with the opposite characteristics. In the entire group, the model revealed an additional cluster, including patients with the syndrome of GTCS alone (50.51%), with >= 5 attacks, headache lasting >4 h, and throbbing headache; 65.66% of patients had a family history of headache in this third cluster (n = 99). Significance Patients with I/GE can be clustered into distinct groups according to headache features along with seizures. Our findings may help in management and planning for future studies