Emotional stimuli-provoked seizures potentially misdiagnosed as psychogenic non-epileptic attacks: A case of temporal lobe epilepsy with amygdala enlargement

The association between emotional stimuli and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is largely unknown. Here, we report the case of a depressed, 50-year-old female complaining of episodes of a “spaced out” experience precipitated by emotional stimuli. Psychogenic non-epileptic attacks were suspected. However, video-EEG coupled with emotional stimuli-provoked procedures and MRI findings of amygdala enlargement, led to the diagnosis of left TLE. Accurate diagnosis and explanation improved her subjective depression and seizure frequency. This case demonstrated that emotional stimuli can provoke seizures in TLE and suggested the involvement of the enlarged amygdala and the modulation of emotion-related neural circuits. Keywords: Video-EEG, Psychogenic non-epileptic attacks, Temporal lobe epilepsy, Amygdala enlargement, Reflex seizure, Provoked seizur

A case of interictal dysphoric disorder comorbid with interictal psychosis: Part of the same spectrum or separate entities?

Depressive disorders in epilepsy often present characteristic clinical manifestations atypical in primary, endogenous depression. Here, we report a case of a 64-year-old woman with right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, who complained of bizarre, antipsychotic-refractory cenesthetic hallucinations in her interictal phase, and was hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Detailed clinical observations revealed mood symptoms, which led to the diagnosis of interictal dysphoric disorder comorbid with interictal psychosis. Sertraline with low-dose aripiprazole markedly alleviated both depressive and psychotic symptoms. This case suggested that the two diagnostic entities may overlap and that depressive symptoms tend to be concurrent when concurring with psychosis, which hampers the appropriate choice of a treatment option. Keywords: Temporal lobe epilepsy, Interictal depression, Interictal dysphoric disorder, Interictal psychosis, Sertraline, Aripiprazol

Relationship between high trait anxiety in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and the difficulties in medical, welfare, and educational services

Abstract Aim The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is associated with a high prevalence of mental health comorbidities. However, not enough attention has been paid to the elevated prevalence of high trait anxiety that begins early in life and may be enduring. We sought to identify specific medical, welfare, or educational difficulties associated with high trait anxiety in 22q11DS. Methods A questionnaire‐based survey was conducted for the parents of 22q11DS individuals (N = 125). First, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to confirm the hypothesis that high trait anxiety in individuals with 22q11DS would be associated with parents' psychological distress. This was based on 19 questionnaire options regarding what difficulties the parents currently face about their child's disease, characteristics, and traits. Next, we explored what challenges faced in medical, welfare, and educational services would be associated with the trait anxiety in their child. Results The multiple regression analysis confirmed that the high trait anxiety was significantly associated with parental psychological distress (β = 0.265, p = 0.018) among the 19 clinical/personal characteristics of 22q11DS. Furthermore, this characteristic was associated with various difficulties faced in the medical care, welfare, and education services, and the parent–child relationship. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study to clarify quantitatively how the characteristic of high anxiety level in 22q11DS individuals is related to the caregivers' perceived difficulties in medical, welfare, and educational services. These results suggest the necessity of designing service structures informed of the fact that high trait anxiety is an important clinical feature of the syndrome