| 1. |
- Kennebäck, G, et al.
(författare)
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Changes in arrhythmia profile and heart rate variability during abrupt withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs. Implications for sudden death.
- 1997
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Ingår i: Seizure. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 6:5, s. 369-75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sudden unexpected death (SUD) has been associated with low or undetectable concentrations of antiepileptic drugs in patients with epilepsy suggesting that a sudden fall in plasma levels of these drugs might be a critical factor for the occurrence of SUD. We studied the changes in arrhythmia profile and heart-rate variability, during abrupt withdrawal of carbamazepine and phenytoin treatment in 10 patients with side effects on these drugs. Continuous ECG recording and daily measurements of drug plasma concentrations were performed from the last day of steady-state treatment and the following 4 days. Three patients had a 10-fold increase in ventricular premature beats. In addition, there was a significant reduction in heart-rate variability, assessed over 24 hours, in both the time (SDNN index, P = 0.03) and frequency domains from days 1-5. In the frequency domain analysis there was a significant reduction in total power (P = 0.01), very-low-frequency power (P = 0.004) and in low-frequency (LF) power (P = 0.01). Similar reductions in heart-rate variability and increases in ventricular automaticity have been associated with increased mortality in other patient groups. Two factors that might contribute to the increased rate of SUD in patients with epilepsy have thus been identified.
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| 2. |
- Landtblom, Anne-Marie, 1953-
(författare)
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Did St Birgitta suffer from epilepsy? A neuropathography
- 2004
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Ingår i: Seizure. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 13:3, s. 161-167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several famous religious personalities have been discussed as possibly having had epilepsy. Partial epileptic fits can be accompanied by religious experiences. The Swedish St Birgitta of Vadstena is focused on from this perspective as the exterior of the skull thought to belong to her has a prominent tuberculum with a corresponding interior indentation possibly indicating the previous existence of a meningioma, a well known cause of epilepsy. This article scrutinises arguments for and against the possibility of epileptic features in the revelations of the saint, as well as in her life story.
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| 3. |
- Räty, Lena, et al.
(författare)
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Seizures and therapy in adolescents with uncomplicated epilepsy
- 2003
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Ingår i: Seizure. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 12:4, s. 229-236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study aimed to describe seizures and their therapy among Swedish adolescents, aged 13–22, with active but uncomplicated epilepsy.Method: The adolescents answered questionnaires (158/193). Data were also obtained from medical records.Results: Epileptic seizure types could be specified in 92.1% of the cases. Predominant types were Primary Generalised Tonic–Clonic Seizures and Partial Complex Seizures with Secondary Generalisation. Clinical diagnoses by physicians were unspecified in 25.8%. Ninety percent were on antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), most commonly valproate and carbamazepine. New AEDs were used in 9.3% of the cases and polytherapy in 13.9%. More than 40% of the respondents had seizures despite AED treatment. Side effects of AEDs were experienced by 61%, most commonly tiredness, concentration difficulties and headache. Patients on polytherapy experienced significantly more side effects. The choice of a new AED over a traditional one was not related to seizure type or seizure control.Conclusions: Many adolescents had persistent seizures despite treatment at a specialist regional epilepsy centre. This, plus the high reported rate of side effects of AED treatment, suggests that treatment is not optimal for the group studied. As traditional AEDs strongly dominated treatment possibly newly marketed AEDs are underused in this group.
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| 4. |
- Almgren, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Population-based study of antiepileptic drug exposure in utero-Influence on head circumference in newborns
- 2009
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Ingår i: Seizure. - : Elsevier BV. - 1532-2688 .- 1059-1311. ; 18:10, s. 672-675
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To study the effect of AED exposure on head circumference in the newborn. Methods: Data on all Swedish singletons births between 1995 and 2005, over 900,000 births, were obtained from the Swedish Medical Birth Registry. The effects of AEDs on birth-weight-adjusted mean head circumference (bw-adj-HC) were estimated by comparison with data from all births in an analysis which was adjusted for year of birth, maternal age, parity, maternal smoking, and maternal body mass index. Results: A significant reduction of mean bw-adj-HC was seen after both carbamazepine (CBZ) (standard deviation scores (SDS) = 0.15, p < 0.001) and valproic acid (VPA) (SDS = 0.10, p = 0.04) in monotherapy. No effect on mean bw-adj-HC was seen for phenytoin, clonazepam, lamotrigine and gabapentin. There was a significant increase in the occurrence of microcephaly (bw-adj-HC smaller than 2 SD below the mean) after any AED polytherapy (OR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.74-4.78) but not after AED monotherapy or monotherapy with CBZ or VPA. CBZ OF VPA was taken by 71% of the pregnant mothers on AED, and the usage increased over time. Conclusions: CBZ and VPA in monotherapy during pregnancy reduce mean bw-adj-HC. AED polytherapy increases the rate of microcephaly but no significant effect is seen of AED monotherapy. The possible significance for the further development of the child is uncertain but should be explored. (C) 2009 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Klara, et al.
(författare)
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Socioeconomic outcome and access to care in adults with epilepsy in Sweden: A nationwide cohort study.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Seizure. - : Elsevier BV. - 1532-2688 .- 1059-1311. ; 74, s. 71-76
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Epilepsy has well-documented associations with low income and low education levels, but the impact of a patient's socioeconomic standing (SES) on the effects of epilepsy have been less studied.We performed a register-based cross-sectional study and asked if SES was associated with more severe epilepsy or limited access to care in Sweden, where health care is universal, and if socioeconomic outcomes (employment and income) differed for persons with epilepsy (PWE) with different levels of educational attainment. The study cohort consisted of all adult patients with an epilepsy diagnosis in the Swedish patient register in 2000-2015 (n = 126,406) and controls (n = 379,131) matched for age, gender, and place of birth.Somatic and psychiatric comorbidities were more common in PWE, while education and income levels were lower. Among PWE, hospitalizations were more common in persons with lower income or education. Having at least one prescription written by a neurologist in the study period was more common in the high-income and high-education groups. Finally, although low educational attainment was associated with low levels of income and inversely associated with employment in both persons with epilepsy and controls, regression analyses demonstrated that these associations were much more noticeable in cases than controls.We conclude that both the severity and consequences of epilepsy are greater in persons of low SES, even in a country with universal health care. This indicates that universal access may not be sufficient to mitigate socioeconomic inequity in epilepsy.
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| 6. |
- Axelson, Hans W., et al.
(författare)
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Successful localization of the Broca area with short-train pulses instead of "Penfield" stimulation.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Seizure. - : Elsevier BV. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 18:5, s. 374-375
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Direct electrical stimulation of functional cortical areas is a standard procedure in epilepsy and glioma surgery. Many previous studies support that stimulation of the motor cortex with short-train pulses is a less epileptogenic alternative to the 50–60 Hz ‘Penfield’ technique. However, whether the short-train stimulation is useful also in mapping of speech areas is unclear. In this case report we present a patient with oligodendroglioma near the Broca area. Extraoperative electrical stimulation via a subdural grid electrode was primarily performed to locate the speech area. The cortex was stimulated with short-train pulses (5 pulses, 0.5 pulse duration and 3 ms interpulse interval) in addition to 1–3 s 50 Hz stimulation.The patient had speech arrest from both types of stimulation techniques during a naming task. It was however critical that the short (14.5 ms) train stimulation was synchronized with the presentation of the naming objects. If not, there was no speech arrest. Despite this possible pitfall, this case has encouraged us to further try short-train stimulation in attempts to reduce stimulus-triggered seizures during mapping of eloquent areas.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Bialek, Fatima, et al.
(författare)
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Outcomes after resective epilepsy surgery in patients over 50 years of age in Sweden 1990-2009-A prospective longitudinal study
- 2014
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Ingår i: Seizure-European Journal of Epilepsy. - : Elsevier BV. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 23:8, s. 641-645
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Most epilepsy surgery candidates are young adults. Outcome reports after epilepsy surgery in patients >= 50 years are few and varying. The aim of this study was to describe patient characteristics of older compared to younger adults and analyse seizure, complication and vocational outcomes in a large population-based series. Methods: We analysed data from the Swedish National Epilepsy Surgery Register for 1990-2009 for patients >= 19 years at resective surgery who had completed two-year follow-up. Variables studied were seizure outcome, histo-pathological diagnoses, complications and vocational outcome. Data from patients >= 50 years and 19-49 years at surgery were compared. Results: 558 Adults underwent resective epilepsy surgery 1990-2009 and had two-year follow-up. 12% of the adults (67 patients) were >= 50 years at surgery. Patients >= 50 had longer epilepsy duration, more often had mesial sclerosis and less often had neurodevelopmental tumours and cortical malformations. The proportion of seizure-free patients at two-year follow-up did not differ between those >= 50 and 1949 years (61% versus 61% seizure-free last year, 48% versus 43% completely seizure-free since surgery), neither did the occurrence of major complications (3% in both groups). The vocational situation was mainly stable between baseline and two-year follow-up in both groups, although older patients were less often employed than younger. Conclusion: 12% of adults in the Swedish series were >= 50 years at epilepsy surgery. Seizure outcome was as good for older as for younger adults, and there was no difference in the occurrence of major complications. This constitutes important information in the presurgical counselling process.
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| 9. |
- Brigo, F, et al.
(författare)
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Randomized controlled trials of antiepileptic drugs for the treatment of post-stroke seizures: A systematic review with network meta-analysis.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Seizure. - : Elsevier BV. - 1532-2688 .- 1059-1311. ; 61, s. 57-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To determine the best available evidence on the efficacy and tolerability of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) used to treat poststroke seizures and epilepsy.MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov and Opengrey.eu were searched for RCTs of AEDs used to treat post-stroke epilepsy. The following outcomes were considered: seizure freedom; occurrence of adverse effects (AEs); withdrawal for AEs. The methodological quality was assessed according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Adjusted indirect comparisons were made between each AED using controlled-release carbamazepine (CR-CBZ) as common comparator.Only 2 RCTs were included, one comparing levetiracetam (LEV) with CR-CBZ and the other comparing lamotrigine (LTG) with CR-CBZ. No significant difference was found in seizure freedom between either LEV or LTG and CR-CBZ. Occurrence of AEs were lower for LEV and LTG than for CR-CBZ. Indirect comparisons showed no difference between LEV and LTG for seizure freedom (OR 0.86; 95%CI: 0.15-4.89). Occurrence of AEs was higher for LEV than for LTG (OR 6.87; 95%CI: 1.15-41.1). For withdrawal rates due to AEs, we found a large width and asymmetrical distribution of confidence intervals around the obtained OR of 10.8 (95% CI: 0.78-149.71).Direct and indirect comparisons did not find a difference in seizure freedom between the various AEDs, probably because of the small number of patients included. LEV and LTG appears better tolerated than CR-CBZ and LEV seems associated with more AEs than LTG. Further studies are required to provide robust evidence on efficacy and tolerability of AEDs for treating poststroke epilepsy.
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| 10. |
- Christensen, Jakob, et al.
(författare)
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Estimates of epilepsy prevalence, psychiatric co-morbidity and cost
- 2023
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Ingår i: Seizure. - : Elsevier. - 1059-1311 .- 1532-2688. ; 107, s. 162-171
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This study estimated epilepsy prevalence, psychiatric co-morbidity and annual costs associated with epilepsy.Methods: We used Danish national health registers to identify persons diagnosed with epilepsy and psychiatric disorders, and persons using antiseizure medication and persons using drugs for psychiatric disorders. We calculated the prevalence of epilepsy and co-morbid psychiatric disorders in Denmark on December 31, 2016, using information on epilepsy and psychiatric disorders based on combinations of hospital contacts and use of antiseizure and psychoactive medication. Further, direct and indirect annual costs associated with epilepsy were calculated using individual-level data from a range of socioeconomic registers.Results: There were 5,044,367 persons alive and living in Denmark on December 31, 2016, including 33,628 persons with at least one hospital contact with epilepsy in the previous five years (epilepsy prevalence 0.67% (0.69% males; 0.65% females)). Among these persons with epilepsy, we identified 12,562 (37.4%) persons with a psychiatric disorder or use of drugs used for psychiatric disorders as compared with 801,052 (15.9%) persons in the general population. The estimated total annual individual net costs associated with epilepsy was €30,683. Compared with prevalence estimates on December 31, 2006, the prevalence of epilepsy on December 31, 2016, was slightly higher in the older population and slightly lower in childrenConclusions: Population estimates from national registers provide epilepsy prevalence estimates of approximately 0.6–0.7% - similar to previous reviews of epilepsy prevalence. In addition, the national sample allowed idenitfication of high prevalence of psychiatric disorders and high societal costs associated with epielspy.
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