International League Against Epilepsy classification and definition of epilepsy syndromes with onset in childhood: Position paper by the ILAE Task Force on Nosology and Definitions.

The 2017 International League Against Epilepsy classification has defined a three-tier system with epilepsy syndrome identification at the third level. Although a syndrome cannot be determined in all children with epilepsy, identification of a specific syndrome provides guidance on management and prognosis. In this paper, we describe the childhood onset epilepsy syndromes, most of which have both mandatory seizure type(s) and interictal electroencephalographic (EEG) features. Based on the 2017 Classification of Seizures and Epilepsies, some syndrome names have been updated using terms directly describing the seizure semiology. Epilepsy syndromes beginning in childhood have been divided into three categories: (1) self-limited focal epilepsies, comprising four syndromes: self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes, self-limited epilepsy with autonomic seizures, childhood occipital visual epilepsy, and photosensitive occipital lobe epilepsy; (2) generalized epilepsies, comprising three syndromes: childhood absence epilepsy, epilepsy with myoclonic absence, and epilepsy with eyelid myoclonia; and (3) developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathies, comprising five syndromes: epilepsy with myoclonic-atonic seizures, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, developmental and/or epileptic encephalopathy with spike-and-wave activation in sleep, hemiconvulsion-hemiplegia-epilepsy syndrome, and febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome. We define each, highlighting the mandatory seizure(s), EEG features, phenotypic variations, and findings from key investigations.

Evidence-based guideline: treatment of parenchymal neurocysticercosis: report of the Guideline Development Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology.

OBJECTIVE: To review the evidence base for different treatment strategies in intraparenchymal neurocysticercosis in adults and children. METHOD: A literature search of Medline, EMBASE, LILACS, and the Cochrane Database from 1980 to 2008, updated in 2012, resulted in the identification of 10 Class I or Class II trials of cysticidal drugs administered with or without corticosteroids in the treatment of neurocysticercosis. RESULTS: The available data demonstrate that albendazole therapy, administered with or without corticosteroids, is probably effective in decreasing both long-term seizure frequency and the number of cysts demonstrable radiologically in adults and children with neurocysticercosis, and is well-tolerated. There is insufficient information to assess the efficacy of praziquantel. RECOMMENDATIONS: Albendazole plus either dexamethasone or prednisolone should be considered for adults and children with neurocysticercosis, both to decrease the number of active lesions on brain imaging studies (Level B) and to reduce long-term seizure frequency (Level B). The evidence is insufficient to support or refute the use of steroid treatment alone in patients with intraparenchymal neurocysticercosis (Level U).

Double dissociation of selective recollection and familiarity impairments following two different surgical treatments for temporal-lobe epilepsy.

Research has firmly established that the integrity of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) is critical for recognition memory. This ability is supported by recollection, which involves recovery of contextual details of a past stimulus encounter, and familiarity assessment, which leads to awareness of prior occurrence without such recovery. Dual-process models of MTL organization posit that recollection and familiarity are supported by the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex, respectively. Alternatively, it has been argued that both structures support these recognition processes similarly as part of a more integrated declarative memory system; from this perspective, reported selective recollection impairments with circumscribed hippocampal lesions may reflect differential sensitivity to overall memory strength, rather than a deficit in a distinct recognition process. Findings from past neuropsychological research remain inconsistent and controversial, in part due to biases in patient selection, variability in clinical etiology, and limited lesion documentation. Here, we administered a verbal recognition-memory task in combination with remember-know judgements to 10 individuals who had undergone left- or right-sided stereotactic amygdalo-hippocampotomy as a surgical treatment for intractable temporal-lobe epilepsy. Comparisons with healthy control participants revealed isolated impairments in recollection with preserved familiarity, regardless of hemispheric site of lesion. In addition, we show that this impairment can be observed at a comparable level of memory strength (i.e., overall recognition performance) as the selective familiarity impairment we previously described in N.B.--an individual who underwent a tailored surgical resection of the left anterior temporal lobe with hippocampal sparing for treatment of temporal-lobe epilepsy. By revealing a double dissociation concerning temporal-lobe mechanisms for recollection and familiarity, this evidence argues against a unitary, strength-based account of MTL organization.