Demographic and technological factors influencing virtual seizure clinic visit satisfaction before and during the Covid-19 pandemic in rural Hawaii.

BACKGROUND: Telemedicine clinic visits traditionally originated from spoke clinic sites, but recent trends have favored home-based telemedicine, particularly in the time of Covid-19. Our study focused on identification of barriers and factors influencing perceptions of care with use of home-based telemedicine in patients with seizures living in rural Hawaii. We additionally compared characteristics of patients using telemedicine versus in-person clinic visits prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: For the retrospective portion of our study, we queried charts of adult outpatients treated by the two full-time epileptologists at a Level 4 epilepsy center accredited by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers between November 2018 and December 2019. We included patients who live on the neighbor islands of Hawaii but not on Oahu, i.e., patients who would require air travel to see an epileptologist. There had been no set protocol at the epilepsy center for telemedicine referral; our practice had been to offer telemedicine visits to all neighbor island patients when felt to be appropriate. We collected demographic and clinic visit data. For the prospective portion we surveyed neighbor island patients or their caregivers, seen via home-based telemedicine between March 2020 and December 2020. We obtained verbal consent for study participation. Survey questions addressed satisfaction with clinical care, visit preferences, and potential barriers to care. RESULTS: In a 14-month period prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, 75 (61%) neighbor island patients were seen exclusively in-person in seizure clinic while 47 (39%) had at least one telemedicine visit. 39% of patients seen only in-person were female whereas 38% of patients seen by telemedicine were female. Patients seen in-person had an older median age (47.2 years) compared to those seen at least once by telemedicine (42.4 years). The no-show rate was 13% for in-person visits versus 4% for telemedicine visits. Among patients seen in person, 17% were Asian, 32% Native Hawaiian, and 47% White, whereas patients seen by telemedicine were 15% Asian, 23% Native Hawaiian, and 57% White. Patients who were seen in person lived in zip codes with median household income of $68,516 and patients who were seen by telemedicine lived in zip codes with median household income of $67,089. Patients who were seen in person lived in zip codes in which 78% of the population had access to broadband internet, whereas patients who were seen by telemedicine lived in zip codes in which 79% of the population had access to broadband internet. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we surveyed 47 consecutive patients seen by telemedicine, 45% female with median age of 33 years. Telemedicine connection was set up by the patient in 74% of cases, or by the patient's mother (15%), other family member (9%), or other caregiver (2 %). Median patient satisfaction score was 5 ("highly satisfied") on a 5-point Likert scale with mean score of 4.6. Telemedicine visit was done using a smartphone by 62% of patients, a computer by 36% of patients, and a tablet by 2% of patients. A home WiFi connection was used in 83% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Home-based telemedicine visits provide a high-satisfaction method for seizure care delivery despite some obstacles. Demographic disparities may be an obstacle to telemedicine care and seem to relate to race and possibly age, rather than to sex/gender, household income, or access to broadband internet. Additionally, despite high satisfaction overall, more patients felt the physical exam was superior at in-person clinic visits and more patients expressed a preference for in-person visits. During the Covid-19 pandemic when there may be barriers to in-person clinic visits, home-based telemedicine is a feasible alternative.

Seizure and epilepsy publication in nonneurology journals.

PURPOSE: The prevalence and characteristics of seizure and epilepsy research published in nonneurology journals are unknown. Characterizing this published research allows for insight into the relevance of seizures and epilepsy in other specialties and may increase opportunity for cross-specialty collaboration. METHODS: In this observational study, we reviewed the top five highly cited clinical journals within eleven specialties in the InCites Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database (2016). For each specialty, we collected 2013-2017 PubMed data on publications with MeSH Major Topic of "seizures," "epilepsy," or "status epilepticus." Medical subject headings (MeSH) in PubMed are standardized terms assigned by subject analysts. MeSH Major Topic identifies articles in which a specified topic is the major focus of the article. We also retrieved author country and medical specialty affiliations. We analyzed whether author specialty affiliation was 1) concordant with journal medical specialty, 2) neurology-related, or 3) other. RESULTS: Articles on "seizures," "epilepsy," or "status epilepticus" had the following prevalence in specialty clinical journals: cardiac and cardiovascular systems (0.01%); clinical neurology (5.34%); critical care medicine (0.20%); emergency medicine (0.47%); general and internal medicine (0.44%); neuroimaging (2.05%); neurosurgery (2.23%); obstetrics and gynecology (0.16%); oncology (0.01%); pediatrics (0.69%); and psychiatry (0.23%). Within general and internal medicine, neuroimaging, and pediatrics, seizure-related articles are more likely to be first-authored by someone with a neurology-related affiliation. Within critical care medicine, emergency medicine, neurosurgery, and obstetrics and gynecology, seizure-related articles were more likely to be first-authored by someone whose affiliation is within the field. CONCLUSIONS: Our study characterizes seizure and epilepsy research published in nonneurology journals. We found that there is a paucity of such research published in nonneurology journals, whether authored by neurologists or other specialists. This is not ideal since nonneurologists are often first-line providers for recognizing, diagnosing, or managing seizures prior to assessment by a neurologist. Cross-specialty collaboration should be strongly encouraged in clinical research.

Marijuana use among patients with epilepsy at a tertiary care center.

The expansion of medical and recreational marijuana legalization facilitates patient access to cannabis, and many patients with epilepsy pursue marijuana as a treatment for seizures. We administered a nine-item survey on marijuana use to patients seen in an epilepsy clinic over a 9 month period at a tertiary care center in Oregon where recreational use was legalized in 2015. The majority of respondents (n = 39) reported cannabis use for the purpose of treating epilepsy (87.2%, n = 34), and strongly agreed (53.8%, n = 21) or agreed (28.2%, n = 11) that cannabis use improved seizure control. The most commonly selected cannabis strains were high cannabidiol (CBD) (30.8%, n = 12) or multiple types (30.8%, n = 12), with administration methods of smoking (66.7%, n = 26), edibles (48.7%, n = 19), and concentrates (43.6%, n = 17). More participants reported using marijuana with primarily CBD than primarily tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or equal CBD:THC content, and very few women reported using marijuana with primarily THC compared with men (10% of female versus 47% of male respondents). Only 2 of 39 participants were able to give an exact dosage used in milligrams. Medical and recreational dispensaries were the most common cannabis sources, followed by homegrown and friends/family members. Although pharmaceutical CBD extract is now Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for certain epilepsy types, access remains limited. Further research is needed to understand recreational cannabis use among patients with epilepsy while clinical research for pharmaceutical cannabis products continues.

Emergency department neuroimaging for epileptic seizures.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency and yield of neuroimaging in patients with known seizure disorders presenting to the emergency department (ED) with recurrent (nonindex) seizures. METHODS: We reviewed 822 consecutive ED visits for nonindex seizures at the Oregon Health & Science University and the VA Portland Health Care System. For each visit, we abstracted details of the clinical presentation, whether neuroimaging was obtained, the results of neuroimaging, and the results of previous neuroimaging studies, when available. We determined whether ED neuroimaging led to an acute change in patient management (yield). Clinical factors associated with obtaining ED neuroimaging, and with the yield of neuroimaging, were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: A majority (78%) of ED seizure visits were for nonindex seizures. Neuroimaging was obtained in 381 of 822 nonindex seizure visits (46%). Of these, 11 imaging studies (3%) led to an acute change in patient management, 8 (2%) after excluding false-positive scans. Acute head trauma, prolonged alteration of consciousness, and a focal neurologic examination at presentation were associated with an increased yield of ED neuroimaging. Absent any of these 3 clinical factors the true positive yield of neuroimaging was zero. SIGNIFICANCE: ED neuroimaging was performed in nearly half of all patients presenting with nonindex seizures. A more conservative use of ED neuroimaging for nonindex seizures, based on clinical factors at presentation, could decrease imaging frequency with minimal loss of yield.

Circadian and ultradian patterns of epileptiform discharges differ by seizure-onset location during long-term ambulatory intracranial monitoring.

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies reporting circadian patterns of epileptiform activity and seizures are limited by (1) short-term recording in an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) with altered antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and sleep, or (2) subjective seizure diary reports. We studied circadian patterns using long-term ambulatory intracranial recordings captured by the NeuroPace RNS System. METHODS: Retrospective study of RNS System trial participants with stable detection parameters over a continuous 84-day period. We analyzed all detections and long device-detected epileptiform events (long episodes) and defined a subset of subjects in whom long episodes represented electrographic seizures (LE-SZ). Spectrum resampling determined the dominant frequency periodicity and cosinor analysis identified significant circadian peaks in detected activity. Chi-square analysis was used to compare subjects grouped by region of seizure onset. RESULTS: In the 134 subjects, detections showed a strongly circadian and uniform pattern irrespective of region of onset that peaked during normal sleep hours. In contrast, long episodes and LE-SZ patterns varied by region. Neocortical regions had a monophasic, nocturnally dominant rhythm, whereas limbic regions showed a more complex pattern and diurnal peak. Rhythms in some individual limbic subjects were best fit by a dual oscillator (circadian + ultradian) model. SIGNIFICANCE: Epileptiform activity has a strong 24 h periodicity with peak nocturnal occurrence. Limbic and neocortical epilepsy show divergent circadian influences. These findings confirm that circadian patterns of epileptiform activity vary by seizure-onset zone, with implications for treatment and safety, including SUDEP.

Interrater reliability in interpretation of electrocorticographic seizure detections of the responsive neurostimulator.

OBJECTIVE: Electrocorticographic (ECoG) recordings from patients with medically intractable partial-onset seizures treated with a responsive neurostimulator system (the RNS System) that detects and stores physician-specified ECoG events provide a new data resource. Interpretation of these recordings has not yet been validated. The purpose was to evaluate the interrater interpretation of chronic ambulatory ECoG recordings obtained by the RNS System. METHODS: Five pairs of five experts independently classified 7,221 ECoG recordings obtained from 128 patients with medically intractable partial seizures who participated in a randomized controlled trial of the safety and efficacy of the RNS System. ECoG detections--"long episodes" or "saturations"--were classified as "seizures" or "not seizures" based on a reference definition. Interrater agreement rates and kappa score reliabilities were calculated between rater pairs from the ECoG sample as a whole and within individual patients who had more than the median number of individual ECoG recordings. RESULTS: The overall interrater agreement was 79%, with a reliability κ = 0.57 (moderate agreement). Agreement between pairs of reviewers ranged from 0.69 to 0.85. Agreement rates were 94% or better for 50% of patients. Only 25% of patients had ECoG recordings agreement rates worse than 75%. ECoGs with mixed interpretations (one reviewer "seizure"/the other--"not seizure") consisted of periods of low amplitude activity that evolved in amplitude or periodic discharges near 2 Hz. SIGNIFICANCE: Although reliability as a whole was moderate, for the majority of patients, detections yielded highly reliably interpreted events of either electrographic seizures or nonictal epileptiform activity.

The presentation of seizures and epilepsy in YouTube videos.

We evaluated videos on the social media website, YouTube, containing references to seizures and epilepsy. Of 100 videos, 28% contained an ictal event, and 25% featured a person with epilepsy recounting his or her personal experience. Videos most commonly fell into categories of Personal Experience/Anecdotal (44%) and Informative/Educational (38%). Fifty-one percent of videos were judged as accurate, and 9% were inaccurate; accuracy was not an applicable attribute in the remainder of the videos. Eighty-five percent of videos were sympathetic towards those with seizures or epilepsy, 9% were neutral, and only 6% were derogatory. Ninety-eight percent of videos were thought to be easily understood by a layperson. The user-generated content on YouTube appears to be more sympathetic and accurate compared to other forms of mass media. We are optimistic that with a shifting ratio towards sympathetic content about epilepsy, the amount of stigma towards epilepsy and seizures will continue to lessen.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis presenting with auditory hallucinations and illusions.

OBJECTIVE: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis may present with seizures or neuropsychiatric symptoms, but does not typically present with hallucinations. We present a case of venous thrombosis of the right sigmoid and transverse sinuses that presented with auditory hallucinations and illusions. METHODS: We describe a 45-year-old woman with a history of myasthenia gravis, stable on oral prednisone and monthly intravenous immunoglobulin infusions, who started on a progesterone/estrogen combination contraceptive pill for menorrhagia 3 weeks before admission and presented with symptoms of headache, fever, and auditory hallucinations and illusions. RESULTS: The patient's cerebrospinal fluid showed lymphocytic pleocytosis. Two electroencephalograms showed significant right temporal lobe slowing. Magnetic resonance venogram of the brain showed venous sinus thrombosis of the right sigmoid and transverse sinuses. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a cortical venous infarct in the right middle temporal gyrus. The patient's auditory hallucinations and illusions resolved spontaneously weeks after presentation. CONCLUSIONS: This case suggests that auditory hallucinations and illusions should be added to the already broad spectrum of presenting features of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. The nondominant right middle temporal gyrus may play a role in such auditory hallucinations.

The School Health Education Program (SHEP): medical students as health educators.

BACKGROUND: The School Health Education Program (SHEP) is a collaboration of the John A. Burns School of Medicine and the State of Hawai'i Department of Education that was founded to improve the health of Hawai'i's youth. This program allows premedical and medical students (collectively referred to as "medical students" from here on) to serve as health educators for high school students in six priority areas of health education. OBJECTIVES: To confirm the efficacy of this community health partnership program and to determine the factors resulting in its success. METHODS: A total of 1714 students from seven of Hawai'i's public high schools were surveyed for improvement in their content knowledge and decision-making confidence after participating in SHEP presentations. A sub-group of 235 high school students were asked about their comfort level and trust in their interactions with medical students as compared to their health teachers. RESULTS: The knowledge content and confidence in decision making increased significantly after participation in SHEP activities (p<.0001). High school students were found to be more comfortable and more trusting in learning about health topics from medical students as compared to health teachers (p<.0001). Reasons given included the medical students' content knowledge as well as their presentation methods and positive attitude. CONCLUSIONS: The unique dual role of medical students as future physicians and as students allowed them to retain their credibility as health educators while developing a strong rapport with the high school students. Through SHEP, medical students can gain valuable experience through researching and teaching health topics while high school students receive additional health knowledge through this teaching.

Industry payments to physician journal editors.

BACKGROUND: Open Payments is a United States federal program mandating reporting of medical industry payments to physicians, increasing transparency of physician conflicts of interest (COI). Study objectives were to assess industry payments to physician-editors, and to compare their financial COI rate to all physicians within the specialty. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We performed a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data, reviewing Open Payments from August 1, 2013 to December 31, 2016. We reviewed general payments ("… not made in connection with a research agreement") and research funding to "top tier" physician-editors of highly-cited medical journals. We compared payments to physician-editors and physicians-by-specialty. In 35 journals, 333 (74.5%) of 447 "top tier" US-based editors met inclusion criteria. Of these, 212 (63.7%) received industry-associated payments in the study period. In an average year, 141 (42.3%) of physician-editors received any direct payments to themselves including general payments and research payments, 66 (19.8%) received direct payments >$5,000 (National Institutes of Health threshold for a Significant Financial Interest) and 51 (15.3%) received >$10,000. Mean annual general payments to physician-editors was $55,157 (median 3,512, standard deviation 561,885, range 10-10,981,153). Median general payments to physician-editors were mostly higher compared to all physicians within their specialty. Mean annual direct research payment to the physician-editor was $14,558 (median 4,000, range 15-174,440). Mean annual indirect research funding to the physician-editor's institution (highly valued by academic leaders such as departmental chairs and deans) was $175,282 (median 49,107, range 0.18-5,000,000). The main study limitation was difficulty identifying physician-editors primarily responsible for making manuscript decisions. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial minority of physician-editors receive payments from industry within any given year, sometimes quite large. Most editors received payment of some kind during the four-year study period. Given the extent of editors' influences on the medical literature, more robust and accessible editor financial COI declarations are recommended.

Mentored peer review of standardized manuscripts as a teaching tool for residents: a pilot randomized controlled multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing need for peer reviewers as the scientific literature grows. Formal education in biostatistics and research methodology during residency training is lacking. In this pilot study, we addressed these issues by evaluating a novel method of teaching residents about biostatistics and research methodology using peer review of standardized manuscripts. We hypothesized that mentored peer review would improve resident knowledge and perception of these concepts more than non-mentored peer review, while improving review quality. METHODS: A partially blinded, randomized, controlled multi-center study was performed. Seventy-eight neurology residents from nine US neurology programs were randomized to receive mentoring from a local faculty member or not. Within a year, residents reviewed a baseline manuscript and four subsequent manuscripts, all with introduced errors designed to teach fundamental review concepts. In the mentored group, mentors discussed completed reviews with residents. Primary outcome measure was change in knowledge score between pre- and post-tests, measuring epidemiology and biostatistics knowledge. Secondary outcome measures included level of confidence in the use and interpretation of statistical concepts before and after intervention, and RQI score for baseline and final manuscripts. RESULTS: Sixty-four residents (82%) completed initial review with gradual decline in completion on subsequent reviews. Change in primary outcome, the difference between pre- and post-test knowledge scores, did not differ between mentored (-8.5%) and non-mentored (-13.9%) residents (p = 0.48). Significant differences in secondary outcomes (using 5-point Likert scale, 5 = strongly agree) included mentored residents reporting enhanced understanding of research methodology (3.69 vs 2.61; p = 0.001), understanding of manuscripts (3.73 vs 2.87; p = 0.006), and application of study results to clinical practice (3.65 vs 2.78; p = 0.005) compared to non-mentored residents. There was no difference between groups in level of interest in peer review (3.00 vs 3.09; p = 0.72) or the quality of manuscript review assessed by the Review Quality Instrument (RQI) (3.25 vs 3.06; p = 0.50). CONCLUSIONS: We used mentored peer review of standardized manuscripts to teach biostatistics and research methodology and introduce the peer review process to residents. Though knowledge level did not change, mentored residents had enhanced perception in their abilities to understand research methodology and manuscripts and apply study results to clinical practice.

Medical journal editors lacked familiarity with scientific publication issues despite training and regular exposure.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize medical editors by determining their demographics, training, potential sources of conflict of interest (COI), and familiarity with ethical standards. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We selected editors of clinical medical journals with the highest annual citation rates. One hundred eighty-three editors were electronically surveyed (response rate, 52%) on demographics and experiences with editorial training, publication ethics, industry, and scientific publication organizations. RESULTS: Editors reported formal (76%) and informal (89%) training in medical editing topics. Most editors saw publication ethics issues (e.g., authorship, COIs) at least once a year. When presented with four questions about editorial issues discussed in commonly cited authoritative policy sources, performance was poor on topics of authorship (30% answered correctly), COI (15%), peer review (16%), and plagiarism (17%). Despite this, confidence level in editorial skills on a Likert scale from the beginning to the end of the survey dropped only slightly from 4.2 to 3.9 (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: Our study presents a current look at editors of major clinical medical journals. Most editors reported training in medical editing topics, saw ethical issues regularly, and were aware of scientific publication organizations, but their knowledge of four common and well-disseminated publication ethics topics appears poor.

Treatment of γ-aminobutyric acid B receptor-antibody autoimmune encephalitis with oral corticosteroids.

BACKGROUND: Autoimmune encephalitis is increasingly identified as a cause of nonviral, idiopathic encephalitis. Present treatment algorithms recommend costly immune-modulating treatments and do not identify a role for oral corticosteroids. OBJECTIVE: To present a patient with γ-aminobutyric acid(B) receptor-antibody encephalitis before and after treatment with oral corticosteroids. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: The inpatient course as well as outpatient follow-up is discussed. PATIENT: A 43-year-old man with initial presentation of seizures and altered mental status. INTERVENTION: Our patient was treated with an extended course of oral corticosteroids as an outpatient. RESULTS: After treatment with oral corticosteroids, our patient had steady clinical improvement, achieved seizure freedom, and experienced improved mental status to within normal limits. CONCLUSIONS: This case supports the use of low-cost oral corticosteroids in treating patients with γ-aminobutyric acid(B) receptor-antibody encephalitis.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in the context of phentermine use resulting in intracranial hemorrhage.

INTRODUCTION: Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a brain disorder characterized by clinical symptoms of headache, visual changes, altered mentation, and seizures. On neuroimaging, focal regions of symmetrical hemispheric edema are most commonly seen in the occipital lobes. It has been suggested that associated intracranial hemorrhage is present in approximately 5% to 17% of cases. We report a case of PRES with large bilateral parieto-occipital hemorrhages in the context of phentermine use. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of phentermine use associated with PRES. CASE REPORT: A 35-year-old woman taking phentermine for weight loss presented with altered mental status and 2 witnessed generalized seizures. She was found to have large bilateral parieto-occipital hemorrhages. The radiographic imaging was consistent with PRES with hemorrhagic conversion. After treatment with anti-epileptic medication, normalization of blood pressure, and discontinuation of phentermine, the patient improved clinically. Five months after the event, the patient had a repeat brain magnetic resonance imaging that showed resolution of the diffuse edema and hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: This case of PRES with hemorrhagic conversation is distinctive in the bilateral and extensive nature of the hemorrhage, and, to our knowledge, is the first reported case of phentermine use likely resulting in PRES. Physicians should be aware of the cerebrovascular risks associated with phentermine use.

The examination of peer review and publication in neurology.

Despite remarkable growth in the clinical neurology literature, there is little research on peer review and biomedical publication in neurology. Biomedical publication research encompasses every step of the research process, from the methodology to the publication of research findings. Some general medical journals have served as leaders in improving scientific publication. Many medical fields have taken it upon themselves to characterize journals and peer reviewers within their own fields. Not all of these data can be applied to the clinical neurology literature; research methodologies, article types, and the journals themselves are unique to every medical field. This article reviews current publication research in the neurology literature and concludes that, to sustain and improve upon the integrity of clinical neurology research, further study is needed of the journals and the peer review process in neurology. Otherwise, the value of clinical research findings and patient care guidelines will be diminished.