Post-epilepsy surgery psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the prevalence of post-epilepsy surgery psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and the possible influence of risk factors on these seizures. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we examined data from all patients with a clinical diagnosis of drug-resistant epilepsy who underwent epilepsy surgery at Graduate Hospital and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center between 1986 and 2016. Postsurgical outcome was identified for up to 15 years after surgery. Diagnosis of PNES was verified in the epilepsy monitoring unit with video-electroencephalography (EEG) ictal recording. Potential associated factors were assessed by comparing patients with or without postoperative PNES. RESULTS: A total of 1,105 patients were studied; 697 patients had postoperative seizures, and, of these, 27 patients (3.9%) had documented PNES after surgery. A full-scale intelligence quotient (IQ) <80 was significantly associated with post-epilepsy surgery PNES (odds ratio [OR] 2.89, p = 0.007, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.33-6.29). A history of a preoperative psychiatric diagnosis was also significantly associated with post-epilepsy surgery PNES (OR 4.67, p = 0.0001, 95% CI 2.01-10.82). Other factors were not significantly associated with post-epilepsy surgery PNES. SIGNIFICANCE: Post-epilepsy surgery PNES should be considered when patients report recurrent seizures after epilepsy surgery. Although these seizures probably occur relatively infrequently, attention to factors such as appearance of new ictal behaviors, a preoperative history of a psychiatric disorder, and a low full-scale IQ should raise suspicion and lead to appropriate diagnostic measures.

New-onset psychogenic nonepileptic seizures after intracranial neurosurgery: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) is still unclear. Although approximately 14 million people need neurosurgical care annually, there is a dearth of thorough analysis on PNES occurrence following surgery. This study seeks to estimate the proportion of newly diagnosed PNES. METHODS: We conducted a literature search of the PubMed, Ovid, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library databases up to December 2023. We identified studies using an observational design on the occurrence of PNES in patients who underwent intracranial surgery, and confirmed diagnosis using video-EEG. Estimates are reported as proportions using random effects models. We reported both 95 % CIs and prediction intervals (PI). We assessed the risk of bias and identified the pooled odds ratio (OR) for mutually exclusive groups. The heterogeneity was investigated using the I² statistic and significance determined using Cochran's Q-test. Post-hoc Egger's regression test, and several sensitivity analyses were performed. This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023488611). RESULTS: Of the 1766 unique studies identified, 86 were selected for full-text review. Eight studies (n = 3,699) were eligible for inclusion. Studies, spanning from 1995 to 2017, primarily focused on epilepsy surgeries. The pooled proportion was 3 % (95 % CI 2 %-5 %; 95 % PI 0 %-11 %). Temporal resections indicated twofold increase of PNES comparing to either resections (OR 2.05, 95 %CI 0.81-5.19). The risk of bias assessment indicated satisfactory quality for included studies, and heterogeneity in estimates was mainly explained by publication year of studies and their rounded sample size. CONCLUSIONS: Given the estimations, there is expected impact of intracranial procedures on functional seizures epidemiology. Further efforts need to understand the contribution of brain resections to PNES incidence.

[Chronic musculoskeletal pain syndrome in primary hyperparathyroidism]. / Chronisches muskuloskelettales Schmerzsyndrom bei primärem Hyperparathyreoidismus.

Chronic somatic pain disorders with somatic and mental factors (ICD-10: F45.41) are common among psychosomatic patients. In the present case, due to the close temporal association with a trauma and the subsequent development of symptoms including depressive symptoms, a chronic pain disorder with a relevant somatoform component was suspected. However, after a period of several months without significant somatic findings, targeted diagnostic approaches resulted in the diagnoses of primary hyperparathyroidism and a papillary thyroid carcinoma. Surgical therapy resulted in an almost complete decline of symptoms within a short period of time.

Psychosomatic disturbances and cosmetic surgery.

Medical activity in recent years has experienced a marked expansion of possibilities for aesthetic surgery, usually requested by patients. Especially in dermatology, an increasing demand for and use of doctor/medical services by healthy individuals has resulted in a drastic change to cosmetic dermatology. The request for cosmetic surgery is emotionally or psychosocially motivated. Patients with psychological disturbances sometimes push aside possible risks and complications or deny side effects and interactions of the procedures. Subjective impairments of appearance, feelings of inferiority and social pho-bias may be in the background of somatizing disorders. These emotional disorders, such as body dysmorphic disorder, personality disorder or polysurgical addiction, often remain undiscovered but should be excluded in any patient receiving cosmetic procedures.

Epilepsy surgery in patients with additional psychogenic seizures.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether surgery to reduce or control epileptic seizures is safe and effective in patients known to have additional psychogenic seizures. DESIGN: We reviewed our computerized database of 1342 patients examined for epilepsy surgery and identified 13 patients with both epileptic and psychogenic seizures on whom postoperative outcome data were available. Data were gathered from the patients' records. Mean postoperative follow-up was 56 months. RESULTS: Epilepsy surgery led to clinically relevant improvements in 11 of 13 patients. Seven patients became free of epileptic and psychogenic seizures, 2 patients became free of epileptic seizures but continued to have infrequent psychogenic seizures, 1 patient reported more than an 80% improvement in epileptic seizure frequency and an abolishment of psychogenic attacks, and in 1 patient nondisabling epileptic seizures persisted at lower frequency but psychogenic seizures stopped. In 2 of 13 patients, epilepsy surgery failed to produce notable improvements. Although 1 patient became free of epileptic attacks and the other had fewer than 3 epileptic seizures per year, the severity or frequency of psychogenic seizures and pseudo-status epilepticus increased postoperatively. One of these patients had a preoperative diagnosis of somatization disorder; in the other, pathological illness behavior had been noted. CONCLUSION: A diagnosis of additional psychogenic seizures should not be considered an absolute contraindication to epilepsy surgery, although patients should undergo careful preoperative psychiatric evaluation.

Can psychological traits predict the outcome of lumbar disc surgery when anamnestic and physiological risk factors are controlled for? Results of a prospective cohort study.

In a prospective study 122 patients with herniated lumbar disc pre-operatively completed psychological questionnaires. Surgical outcome was evaluated 12 months post-operatively mainly by a composite clinical overall score (COS), and by its separate elements. Anxiety (HAD-A scale) and psychosomatic symptoms (MSPQ) had predictive value: fewer symptoms favoured a satisfactory overall outcome, and vice versa. The HAD-A Scale had a predictive power of poor (ppp) and satisfactory (pps) outcome of 28 and 81%, respectively. Correspondingly, for the MSPQ, the ppp and pps were 42 and 85%. Anamnestic and biological variables (including fibrinolytic variables: ECLT and PAI-1) predicted 20% of the outcome. By adding all psychological variables the prediction increased only to 24%, but the HAD-A Scale and the MSPQ were still significant. The results suggest that in order to further improve prediction of outcome, future studies should combine biological variables sensitive to the mental state of the patient, with psychometric assessments.

[Psychosomatics in orthopedics]. / Psychosomatique en orthopédie.

Psychosomatics applies to orthopaedic surgery in several ways. Illness, accident, pain, physical handicap present an individual and subjective meaning in each patient story. Every one can date his first symptom back to an important emotional event. The way the illness and its symptoms break out, reveals patient personality. Illness, accident, and their surgical treatment may be felt as a psychic traumatism which troubles mental stability. Discussion with a psychologist enables to reveal the meaning which everyone gives to his symptoms, and to understand why it is sometimes difficult for the patient to give them up. Finally, psychosomatics shows that the healing function of orthopaedic surgery can sometimes concern negotiation of a compromise between acceptable physical pain and bearable physical pain, more than the desire to totally suppress painful or functional complaint.

[Late results of the treatment of patients with the extreme degree of alimentary-constitutional obesity by the method of formation of a small stomach]. / Otdalennye rezul'taty lecheniia bol'nykh s krainymi stepeniami alimentarno-konstitutsional'nogo ozhireniia metodom formirovaniia malogo zheludka.

The work analyses the results of treatment of 311 patients with extreme degrees of alimentary-constitutional obesity by formation of a small stomach. Fatal outcomes (1.9%) were encountered in the period of operative technique mastering. The late-term results were studied in 167 patients in follow-up periods of up to 3 years. The patients' average body weight was 149.4 kg, average height 166.2 cm, average body weight excess as compared to the ideal weight was 125.6%. Study of the late-term results of the operation showed that the postoperative weight loss depends on the initial weight excess and the diameter of the anastomosis formed between the proximal and distal parts of the stomach. The more the initial excess of weight as compared to the ideal value, the more the loss of body weight is. The diameter of the formed anastomosis should be no larger than 15 mm. Besides loss of weight, the activity of vital organs and systems is normalized after the operation, and arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, the Pickwickian syndrome, and metabolic polyarthritis take a milder course. The operation for formation of a small stomach made it possible for the patients to resume their customary occupation, freed them of the threat of invalidation, and reduced the duration of the disability period by 4.3 times. After surgical treatment the nature of the patients' life significantly improved; 95.8% of patients appraised the effect of the treatment as excellent and good.

[Changes in the degree of oxygenation of gastric mucosa before and after the operation of creating a small stomach in patients with the extreme degree of alimentary-constitutional obesity]. / Izmeneniia urovnei oksigenatsii slizistoi obolochki zheludka do i posle operatsii formirovaniia malogo zheludka u bol'nykh s krainymi stepeniami alimentarno-konstitutsional'nogo ozhireniia.

The authors examined 131 patients with alimentary-constitutional obesity of Degrees III-IV before and after operation for "small stomach" formation. All patients underwent pre- and post-operative endoscopy of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. The level of gastric mucosa oxygenation was measured in 50 patients before and in various periods after surgery. For this purpose the authors suggested an original endoscopic +spectrum analyzer and a method for determining the level of oxygenation of the mucosa of the organ. The level of gastric mucosa oxygenation was significantly lower in patients with obesity than in healthy individuals of the control group. After the operation the oxygenation level increased significantly, which was connected with an altered diet regimen, reduced amount of the ingested food, loss of weight, and improved microcirculation in the mucous membrane of the organs of the alimentary tract. The authors emphasize in particular the absence of blood supply disorders at the site of application of a synthetic fluoronlavsan band (in the region of the anastomosis), which is among the indices of the physiological property of this method for surgical treatment of patients with alimentary-constitutional obesity.

Differentiating ictal panic with low-grade temporal lobe tumors from psychogenic panic attacks.

OBJECTIVE: Indolent low-grade temporal lobe tumors may present with ictal panic that may be difficult to differentiate from psychogenic panic attacks. The current study aims to demonstrate the differences between the two disorders and help physicians generate a diagnostic paradigm. METHOD: This was a retrospective study of 43 patients who underwent a temporal lobectomy between 1981 and 2008 for the treatment of intractable temporal lobe epilepsy secondary to low-grade neoplasms at Rush University Medical Center. A total of 10 patients in this group presented with ictal panic who were previously being treated for psychogenic panic attacks. Medical records were reviewed for age at seizure onset, duration of symptoms, lateralization of the epileptogenic zone, pathological diagnosis, and postsurgical seizure outcome according to the modified Engel classification. RESULTS: Neuropathologic findings of the 10 tumors were pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma, ganglioglioma, oligodendroglioma, and dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial. The mean age of the patients undergoing surgery was 28 years (range, 15-49). The mean duration of panic symptoms prior to surgery was 9.8 years (range, 3-23). All patients had unprovoked ictal panic. None had symptoms suggestive of a brain tumor, such as signs of increased intracranial pressure or any focal neurologic deficit. In 5 of the patients, other symptoms associated with the ictal panic, including unusual sounds, nausea, automatism, uprising gastric sensation, and déjà vu were identified. Gross total resection of the lesion resulted in improved seizure outcome in all patients undergoing surgery. Patient follow-up was, on average, 7.4 years (range, 2-14) from time of surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Although similar, ictal panic from epilepsy and classic panic attacks are clinically distinguishable entities with different modalities of treatment. A careful history may help differentiate patients with ictal panic from those with psychogenic panic attacks and determine for which patients to obtain neuroimaging studies.

Endoscopic assisted excision of a retroclival arachnoid cyst presenting as hysterical breathlessness.

BACKGROUND: Arachnoid cysts are benign developmental cysts occurring most commonly in the middle fossa. Posterior fossa arachnoid cysts are less common, with retroclival arachnoid cysts especially in the pediatric age group being rare. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We present a case of a retroclival interpeduncular farachnoid cyst in a 10-year-old boy who presented with left-sided ptosis and episodes of hysterical breathlessness. RESULTS: The surgical treatment involved endoscopic assisted microsurgical excision of the cyst and the child made an uneventful and complete recovery with complete cessation of breathlessness. The clinical presentation, etiopathogenesis, imaging characteristics and treatment modalities are discussed and the relevant literature reviewed.

[Laparotomy for acute abdomen in larvate depression]. / Laparotomie wegen "akuten Abdomens" bei larvierter Depression.

35--40% of psychosomatic disturbances among depressive patients present as abdominal troubles. These are difficult to interpret in the case of larvate depression which manifests itself mainly in the somatic sphere. For the last twenty years, we have noticed an increased incidence of larvate depressions. As a result, patients are often inadequately treated or submitted to surgery. This report is about a 37-year-old female patient who was referred to us with the diagnosis of an acute abdomen. After extensive investigations we were able to rule out as well a mechanical as a reflectory ileus. Nevertheless, the rapid deterioration of her general condition, increasing peritonism and radiological evidence of ileus made us suspect a perforated ulcer with accompanying paralytic ileus and perform an exploratory laparotomy 24 h later. We were very surprised not to discover any abnormal findings at operation. The consultant psychiatrist eventually diagnosed a depression. Up to this date, we have not been able to discover any information about similar patients presenting with such an acute history, even in specialised psychiatric literature. Should one refer such patients with acute abdomen to the psychiatrist before operating?

[Psychological aspects in surgery--surgical aspects in psychology: psychosomatic medicine in routine practice?]. / Seelisches in der Chirurgie--Chirurgisches in der Seele: Psychosomatik im chirurgischen Alltag?

Medicine appears to have reached a standstill, in particular surgery: While progress in apparative diagnostics and therapy, e.g. by ultrasound, endoscopy, laparoscopy, and arthroscopy, has reached in some areas "breathtaking speed", the parties concerned-surgeons and patients-lose in reserve air to breathe: no time for any profound consideration, no chance for in-depth talking before surgical procedures are performed, no training for giving real support after surgery. Do we see a brand of surgery which feels responsible only for a human machine without soul? Meanwhile discussions have begun inside medicine in general about a change of paradigms, ways of thinking, the model of the world. Surgery can even make substantial contributions to this change of paradigms. Surgery for the human machine? Psychosomatic ways of thinking are first seen not applicable for surgery. Substantial anxiety exists to take notice of each other. Three concrete examples from everyday practice in surgery demonstrate, how psychosomatic thinking can change and enrich surgical practice: From the area of indications reflections about appendectomy, from the operative-surgical area the phenomenon of self-destructive behaviour, from the restitutive area experiences in treatment of osteomyelitis. Back to the interpersonal area! Psychosomatics must be recognised as a way of thinking and be integrated as such into surgery. A so-called "integrated surgery" will arise. The examples demonstrate also, that it is not some anonymous surgical medicine, which must and can change, but that only the individual surgeon as a concrete person can bring back his work into the interpersonal area.

Psychoneurological applications of endoscopic sympathetic blocks (ESB).

In addition to more widely and longer known indications of ETS, various neurological disorders and psychologically stressful situations in their worst expressions might be alleviated by the reversible ESB procedure. The patients with social phobia, especially those who have also blushing and/or stage fright type of heart racing, benefit from the ESB. The disturbances of the sympathetic nervous system, e. g. in Parkinson's disease and multiple system atrophy might be alleviated with sympathetic block, especially the extrapyramidal symptoms in these diseases. In migraine, sympathetic surgery has been noted to give some help. The unilateral left-sided block has been effective in long QT-syndrome type arrhythmias. In schizophrenia, the phobic, paranoic or confusional reactions have been tentatively treated by the sympathetic block.

[Recurrence of hiatal hernia. A study of 20 cases]. / Récidives de hernie hiatale. Etude de 20 dossiers.

After surgical correction, hiatus hernia recurs in 5--15%. Papers dealing with these recurrences are rare. Among 140 hiatus hernias operated in our service, quite a few had some residual symptoms such as intermittent dysphagia, epigastric pain and flatulence. Three of them had to be reoperated on for a recurrence. In this paper 20 patients operated for recurrent hiatus hernia are reviewed. Some factors predispose to recurrence: inadequate initial operation, stage 3--4 oesophagitis, kyphosis, very broad hiatal orifice at initial operation. When the cases reoperated upon are reviewed some of them are not improved. Most of these patients have psychosomatic problems or are under psychiatric treatment. This is why a patient coming for a recurrent hiatus hernia should be investigated thoroughly. Psychosomatic cases are as bad an indication for a second operation as they probably were for the first one. When reoperation has been decided, several procedures can be used. The choice depends on what was done at the first operation, on the radiological, endoscopic and peroperative findings. In the majority of the cases, an abdominal approach can be used, but occasionally a thoracic or thoraco-abdominal route is preferable. Associated vagotomy does not improve the results and adds its own morbidity.