Psychiatric comorbidity in patients evaluated for chronic epilepsy: a differential role of the right hemisphere?

INTRODUCTION: Psychiatric disorders are known to occur frequently in chronic epilepsy. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity and its relationship to regional cerebral dysfunction in patients admitted to a tertiary epilepsy center for epilepsy surgery. METHODS: 217 patients were investigated. A presurgical workup was performed and allowed precise localization of the epileptogenic focus in 156 patients. Sixty-one patients had multifocal or generalized discharges. After 1-3 psychiatric interviews, a psychiatric diagnosis was made (DSM-IV classification). RESULTS: Psychiatric comorbidity was found in 85 patients (39%), more often in those with right or bilateral hemispheric dysfunction (74%, p = 0.04) with no difference between temporal or extratemporal foci location frequency. Additionally, patients with psychiatric disorders were less likely to undergo epilepsy surgery compared to 'epilepsy-only' patients (p = 0.003), despite similar good outcome in patients with and without psychiatric comorbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Right-sided or bilateral foci seem to represent a risk factor for psychiatric comorbidity in epilepsy, although we did not find any particular association between a psychiatric syndrome and focus localization. Recognition and treatment of psychiatric comorbidity is of major importance since its presence may interfere with patient's decision making for epilepsy surgery treatment.

Post-ictal fever: a rare symptom of partial seizures.

Although fever may induce seizures, especially in children, its occurrence following epileptic spells has been rarely described, except from generalized convulsive status epilepticus. We present two patients suffering from focal seizures accompanied by episodes of post-ictal fever, and review similar reports in the literature of the last 40 years. Temperature changes following non-convulsive seizures might be induced by gene upregulation occurring in the hypothalamus, the nucleus tractus solitarius, or in other brain regions, producing a local inflammatory response. Direct propagation of electrical discharges seems less consistent with the timing of development of this symptom. Heterogeneity of reported clinical features argues against the assumption of a definite localizing or lateralizing value for post-ictal fever.

[Status epilepticus and neuronal degeneration: of circuitries and vicious circles]. / Etat de mal épiteptique et neurodégénérescence: entre circuits et cercles vicieux.

The relationship between status epilepticus (SE) and neuronal degeneration is quite complex and difficult to investigate. Animal studies suggest that SE induces a progressive neuronal death; however, clinical observations on humans are less uniform: generalized SE may precede the development of hippocampal sclerosis, but other forms (such as simple-partial or complex-partial) seem less ominous. On the other side, SE can be encountered in many patients with neurodegenerative disorders, particularly those with severe forms. It is thus likely that SE represents a sign, rather than an aetiology, of clinical gravity. Therefore, while it is ancillary to treat rapidly any SE form, the therapeutic approach, especially the use of aggressive treatments, should be tailored according to the underlying medical conditions.

[Current epilepsy treatment in adults]. / Le traitement actuet des épitepsies chez l'adulte.

The prevalence of epilepsy is about 1%. Only two thirds of these patients respond satisfactorily to an antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment. New AED did not clearly improve this overall efficacy, but often show a better tolerability as compared to old AED. This may allow a more targeted choice, especially in some delicate clinical situations, such as for the treatment of women in childbearing age, or patients receiving other drugs with possible pharmacokinetic interactions. Invasive approaches should be considered early in the course of treatment-resistant epilepsy, and may offer a complete seizure remission in selected cases. On the background of recent acquisitions from the literature, the pros and cons of different treatment options are presented. This is followed by the discussion of some clinical relevant situations.

Automatic classification of HITS into artifacts or solid or gaseous emboli by a wavelet representation combined with dual-gate TCD.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Transcranial Doppler (TCD) can detect high-intensity transient signals (HITS) in the cerebral circulation. HITS may correspond to artifacts or solid or gaseous emboli. The aim of this study was to develop an offline automated Doppler system allowing the classification of HITS. METHODS: We studied 600 HITS in vivo, including 200 artifacts from normal subjects, 200 solid emboli from patients with symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis, and 200 gaseous emboli in stroke patients with patent foramen ovale. The study was 2-fold, each part involving 300 HITS (100 of each type). The first 300 HITS (learning set) were used to construct an automated classification algorithm. The remaining 300 HITS (validation set) were used to check the validity of this algorithm. To classify HITS, we combined dual-gate TCD with a wavelet representation and compared it with the current "gold standard," the human experts. RESULTS: A combination of the peak frequency of HITS and the time delay makes it possible to separate artifacts from emboli. On the validation set, we achieved a sensitivity of 97%, a specificity of 98%, a positive predictive value (PPV) of 99%, and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 94%. To distinguish between solid and gaseous emboli, where positive refers now to the solid emboli, we used the peak frequency, the relative power, and the envelope symmetry of HITS. On the validation set, we achieved a sensitivity of 89%, a specificity of 86%, a conditional PPV of 89%, and a conditional NPV of 89%. CONCLUSIONS: An automated wavelet representation combined with dual-gate TCD can reliably reject artifacts from emboli. From a clinical standpoint, however, this approach has only a fair accuracy in differentiating between solid and gaseous emboli.

Spontaneous carotid dissection with acute stroke.

Thirty (2.5%) of 1200 consecutive patients with a first stroke had a spontaneous dissection with occlusion of the cervical internal carotid artery (ICA). A suggestive picture with ipsilateral headache and oculosympathetic paresis was uncommon (17%), so that diagnosis was uncertain before angiography. Seven patients died within one week. During follow-up (mean, 3.2 years) with sequential Doppler ultrasonographic testing, 12 survivors had a good recovery and early reopening of the occluded ICA, and 11 had a poor recovery usually without reopening of the ICA. Recurrence of a dissection occurred in only one patient. Large infarcts causing death or a severe disability were associated with an ICA thrombus and distal emboli; the organization of this intraluminal thrombosis may explain the absence of reopening in these cases while resorption of the intramural hematoma developed. Early heparin sodium therapy may help prevent intraluminal clotting without carrying an important risk of extending the dissection, but its clinical benefit remains unproven. Contrary to current opinions, ICA dissection with occlusion causing cerebral infarction may often carry a severe prognosis.

Persistent worsening of stroke sequelae after delayed seizures.

Though the role of cerebral ischemia as an etiologic factor for epilepsy is accepted, the effect of seizures on stroke sequelae has received little attention. We describe 10 patients with poststroke partial epileptic seizures that were followed by persistent worsening of the previous neurologic deficit. Of 38 other patients with poststroke seizures who were examined during the same period, eight suffered transient neurologic worsening (Todd's phenomenon). Persistent worsening was associated with longer seizures and longer partial seizures before generalization. Risk factors, age, sex, other seizure features, and characteristics of previous stroke were irrelevant to developing persistent worsening of stroke sequelae. None of the patients with persistent worsening showed a new lesion or an extension of the previous ischemic area on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, except one who had a first hemorrhage that spared the cortex and who suffered a second hemorrhage, which was lobar. Persistent worsening of a neurologic deficit following a seizure in patients with previous stroke may not be uncommon and may be due to a direct effect of the seizure itself on the infarcted area.

Opercular cheiro-oral syndrome.

Perioral and distal upper limb sensory dysfunction (cheiro-oral syndrome) has classically been attributed to cortical involvement. In previously reported cases of the syndrome, caused by stroke, however, the thalamus or brain stem has been the actual site of the lesion. We have studied two patients with infarct in the superficial middle cerebral artery territory involving the parietal operculum. Sensory involvement was purely subjective in the face, but severe hypoesthesia was present in the distal upper limb, involving mainly position sense, stereognosis, and graphesthesia. Temperature and pain sensation were involved in one patient. These findings correlated with involvement of the lower part of the postcentral gyrus, more caudal parts of the parietal operculum, and underlying white matter. This opercular cheiro-oral syndrome seems more uncommon than faciobrachiocrural hemihypesthesia associated with anterior parietal artery territory infarct. A double supply to the parietal opercular region through branches of the temporal arteries and anterior parietal artery may explain the rarity of cheiro-oral syndrome resulting from hemisphere stroke, because simultaneous and partial compromise to two different pial artery networks is uncommon.

Asymptomatic tight stenosis of the internal carotid artery: long-term prognosis.

We followed 38 patients with a neck bruit due to symptomless internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis greater than 90% for a mean period of 48 months. The annual rate of death or stroke was 7.2%. The cardiac death rate was 5.3% per year. Each year 1.7% of the patients had an unheralded ipsilateral infarct; after transient ischemic attacks, the proportion increased to 4.2%, and symptoms correlated with occlusion of the ICA. The low risk of unheralded ipsilateral infarct questions the usefulness of prophylactic endarterectomy. Diagnosis and treatment of risk factors and heart disease seem more important.

Failure to recall (but not to remember): pure transient amnesia during nonconvulsive status epilepticus.

We report a patient with a generalized frontal-predominant nonconvulsive status epilepticus without clinically apparent altered consciousness. The patient was examined and EEG performed during and after the episode. Severe retrograde and anterograde amnesia during the seizure, contrasting with a preservation of ongoing memories formation that could be assessed only after its resolution, suggests a transient disconnection of access to stored representations. This unusual memory disorder is both clinically and electrographically dissimilar to other reported cases of transient epileptic amnesia. Although the patient probably had numerous episodes previously, there was no history of overt seizure.

Cardiac sources of embolism and cerebral infarction--clinical consequences and vascular concomitants: the Lausanne Stroke Registry.

We studied clinical characteristics and coexisting causes of stroke in 305 patients admitted to a population-based primary care center with an initial ischemic stroke and a potential cardiac source of embolism (PCSE). Using systematic standardized cardiac, arterial, and cerebral investigations and the logistics of the prospective Lausanne Stroke Registry, we found that nonprogressive onset, hemianopia without hemiparesis or hemisensory disturbances, Wernicke's aphasia, ideomotor apraxia, involvement of specific territories (posterior division of middle cerebral artery, anterior cerebral artery, cerebellum, multiple territories), and a hemorrhagic component were associated with the presence of a PCSE, as compared with 1,006 initial ischemic stroke patients without PCSE. Although age and sex did not differ, the frequency of hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, elevated blood cholesterol, and deep hemispheric or brainstem infarcts was higher in the patients without a PCSE. Nearly one-fourth of the patients with a PCSE had a coexisting potential arterial cause of stroke (large artery greater than or equal to 50% stenosis or small-vessel disease). In the majority of patients with a PCSE (76.7%), cardioembolism was the most likely cause of stroke, although a direct source of embolism was uncommon (4.3%) and intracranial embolic occlusions were present in less than one-half of the patients who were angiographed.

Prognosis after stroke followed by surgical closure of patent foramen ovale: a prospective follow-up study with brain MRI and simultaneous transesophageal and transcranial Doppler ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: The risk of stroke and the long-term prognosis of recurrent strokes in young patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO) are not well known. For this reason, the treatment of these patients remains empirical. An alternative treatment to prolonged antithrombotic therapy may be surgical closure of the PFO. METHODS: Thirty patients (20 men and 10 women) with stroke and PFO were prospectively selected among 138 patients with stroke and PFO for a study of surgical closure of PFO at our center. Eligible patients were < 60 years old, had negative results of a systematic search for another cause of stroke (first criterion), and met two of the four following criteria: (1) recurrent clinical cerebrovascular events or multiple ischemic lesions on brain MR, (2) PFO associated with an atrial septal aneurysm, (3) > 50 microbubbles counted in the left atrium on contrast transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), and (4) Valsalva maneuver or cough preceding the stroke. Patients selected in this manner for surgery were considered to be a subgroup with a higher risk of stroke recurrence. RESULTS: All patients had a direct suture of PFO while under cardiopulmonary bypass without recorded early or delayed significant complication. All patients underwent a new brain MRI and TEE simultaneous with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography after contrast injection at 8 +/- 3 months after surgery. After a mean follow-up of 2 years without antithrombotic treatment, no recurrent cerebrovascular event (stroke or transient ischemic attack [TIA]) and no new lesion on MRI had developed. Postoperative contrast TEE and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography showed that two patients had residual interatrial right-to-left shunting, although much smaller than before surgery, associated with single versus double continuous suture. CONCLUSIONS: Our study of 30 selected stroke patients with surgical suture of PFO showed a stroke recurrence rate of 0% and no significant complication. Residual right-to-left shunting may be avoided by double continuous suture of the PFO. In the absence of controlled studies to guide individual therapeutic decisions, our findings show that PFO closure can be done safely and may be considered to avoid recurrence in selected patients with long life expectancy and presumed paradoxic embolism.

Early diagnosis and evolution of deafness in childhood bacterial meningitis: a study using brainstem auditory evoked potentials.

Fifty-one children with bacterial meningitis were studied prospectively using serial recordings of brainstem auditory evoked potential (BAEP) from the earliest phase of the disease, according to a standardized protocol. The objectives were to make an early diagnosis and follow the evolution of deafness in the course of meningitis and evaluate the prognostic value of BAEP. Thirty-five children (68.6%) always had normal recordings; 11 children (21.6%) had transient BAEP abnormalities (prolonged wave V latency or elevated threshold for wave I), and five children (9.8%) had persistent pathologic BAEP recordings from the first examination at 48 hours until discharge from the hospital and have a persistent deafness. All recordings that were normal or pathologic at discharge were confirmed by behavioral audiometry 3 months later. These results show the early occurrence of deafness in the course of meningitis with a crucial phase of possible recovery or worsening occurring during the first 2 weeks. There were no cases of "late" deafness or "late" recovery (there was sometimes slight improvement) occurring after discharge; thus BAEPs have a prognostic value. However, observation of a child with clinically proven selective high-frequency postmeningitic deficit but without a hearing handicap, a disorder that was diagnosed early with BAEP (which tests only the high frequencies), is a warning that this method alone is insufficient and that clinical auditory surveillance and conventional audiometry remain necessary.

Childhood epilepsy with neuropsychological regression and continuous spike waves during sleep: epilepsy surgery in a young adult.

We describe the case of a man with a history of complex partial seizures and severe language, cognitive and behavioural regression during early childhood (3.5 years), who underwent epilepsy surgery at the age of 25 years. His early epilepsy had clinical and electroencephalogram features of the syndromes of epilepsy with continuous spike waves during sleep and acquired epileptic aphasia (Landau-Kleffner syndrome), which we considered initially to be of idiopathic origin. Seizures recurred at 19 years and presurgical investigations at 25 years showed a lateral frontal epileptic focus with spread to Broca's area and the frontal orbital regions. Histopathology revealed a focal cortical dysplasia, not visible on magnetic resonance imaging. The prolonged but reversible early regression and the residual neuropsychological disorders during adulthood were probably the result of an active left frontal epilepsy, which interfered with language and behaviour during development. Our findings raise the question of the role of focal cortical dysplasia as an aetiology in the syndromes of epilepsy with continuous spike waves during sleep and acquired epileptic aphasia.

The brainstem auditory evoked potential is a useful diagnostic tool in evaluating risk factors for hearing loss in neonatology.

Fourteen of 100 babies in an intensive care nursery showed abnormal BAEPs. An analysis of the clinical records identified nine risk factors. Neonatal asphyxia appeared to be associated with hearing loss only when repeated episodes of acidosis accompanied it. We conclude that the BAEPs can identify hard-of-hearing babies and estimate the type and amount of peripheral hearing loss. Prolonged perfusion of the cochlea with blood low in pH level may be the most common cause of hearing disorder in our group of nine risk factors.

The matching pursuit: a new method of characterizing microembolic signals?

Detection of clinically silent circulating microemboli within cerebral arteries by transcranial Doppler ultrasound (US) is now being widely investigated in the hope of identifying patients at increased risk for stroke. However, the widespread application of embolus detection is still limited in clinical practice because current transcranial Doppler systems have not the required sensitivity and specificity to analyze microembolic signals, particularly to distinguish between gaseous, or solid brain emboli and artefacts. In this work, we proposed to investigate the potential of a new approach for the analysis of microembolic signals via the so-called matching pursuit, which is closely related to wavelet transform and is not subject to the same limitations as the fast Fourier transform. Our preliminary results clearly indicate that matching pursuit is well suited to this task.

[Alpha coma: rectrospective presentation of 20 cases]. / Alpha-coma: présentation rétrospective de 20 cas.

Alpha coma is a relatively rare variety of EEG resulting from diffuse cerebral anoxia, focal brainstem lesions, metabolic disturbances or intoxications. It is a monotonous, unreactive and anteriorly predominant activity of less than 50 microV and of 8 to 13 Hz. Twenty cases of alpha coma are reported: 16 resulting from anoxic encephalopathy, 2 from brain stem strokes, and 2 from metabolic encephalopathy. Cardiac arrest was the main cause of alpha coma (10 cases); a large number of patients (7 cases) died, or have survived with severe neurologic deficits (2 cases). In 2 cases there was a metabolic-toxic cause (benzodiazepines and parathion intoxication). The 2 patients with pontomesencephalic haemorrhage died. The physiopathogenicity of alpha coma, which remains obscure, is also discussed.

Dissection of the internal carotid artery: aetiology, symptomatology, clinical and neurosonological follow-up, and treatment in 60 consecutive cases.

We reviewed the medical records of 60 consecutive patients (28 men and 32 women; aged from 13 to 63 years) with the diagnosis of dissection of the internal carotid artery (ICA), and with available clinical and neurosonological follow-up. Ten cases occurred after trauma and 50 cases were spontaneous. Angiographic evidence of fibromuscular dysplasia of the ICA was found in 23% of the cases. Unilateral headaches or neck pain associated with focal cerebral ischemic symptoms or oculosympathetic palsy were the most common findings. Less frequent symptoms such as isolated cranial nerve palsies and pulsating bruits were also observed. Follow-up ranged from 3 to 144 months (mean, 37.5 months). A favourable outcome occurred in 73.7% of the cases with a follow-up of 6 months or more, and seemed to depend on the severity of the ischemic cerebral deficit associated with the ICA dissection. 68% (41/60 cases) of our patients developed stroke and 18% (11/60 cases) experienced a transient ischemic attack, which occurred as the initial manifestation of the ICA dissection in 28.8% (15/52 cases) of the cases, and with a delay (more than 24 hours) in the other cases. Evidence of embolization in the cerebral arteries was found in 36% of the cases with stroke (15/41 cases). Anticoagulant therapy, given in 34 of our patients, seems to be justified by the fact that a considerable risk exists for cerebral emboli in association with ICA dissections; no serious neurological complications were observed in our series as a result of this anticoagulant therapy. Doppler sonography follow-up diagnosed a recanalization in 67.8% of the stenotic or occlusive dissections, most of them being completed within the first 6 months (92%). Recurrence of ICA dissection is exceptional but occurred in one of our 60 cases, 2.5 years after the first event.

[Interest of auditory brainstem responses in clinical diagnosis (author's transl)]. / Apport clinique des propriétés neurophysiologiques des ondes précoces auditives du tronc cérébral.

The auditory brainstem response yields information on both the neurological and the audiological status of infants and adults. These early waves have particular properties as: non-habituation, absence of modification between sleep, awake state or under high doses of barbiturates. We have developed a procedure for extracting each type of information by measuring the latencies of wave I (auditory nerve) and wave V (inferior colliculus), then the speed of conduction between these two waves.

[Spontaneous dissecting aneurysms of the internal carotid artery. Prospective evaluation of the prognosis and arterial repermeation in 14 cases]. / Anévrysmes disséquants spontanés de l'artère carotide interne. Evaluation prospective du pronostic et de la reperméabilisation artérielle dans 14 cas.

Fourteen patients with a spontaneous dissecting aneurysm of an internal carotid artery (ICA) have been admitted in our service since 1979 (incidence of 0,5 per 100,000 inhabitants per year). All these patients have been prospectively followed in order to determine their functional prognosis and a possible recanalization of the ICA. Three patients quickly died from an extensive middle cerebral artery infarct with brainstem compression. Among the 11 survivors, 7 completely recovered their functional ability or were left with very minor sequelae, and could go back to work. The 4 other patients remained with severe sequelae and could not work anymore. In the latter patients Doppler ultrasonographic study showed a persisting occlusion of the ICA, whereas a complete recanalization occurred in the former 7, usually as soon as the first month, on anticoagulant treatment. The presence on admission of a minor or moderate neurological deficit, a normal state of consciousness, an age above 45 years, and a patent collateral circulation allows to predict a favorable evolution (p less than 0.05). The same is true for the development of a partial or complete recanalization of the ICA on Doppler ultrasonography performed 2 to 4 weeks after admission. Sex, angiographic aspects of the dissection, and occurrence of headache or warning transient ischemic attacks had no prognostic significance in our study. Spontaneous dissecting aneurysms of the ICA can be a very serious disease, though nearly 50 p. 100 of the patients completely recover during the first months. Immediate anticoagulant therapy is still the treatment of choice and surgery is indicated only in those patients with recurrent episodes or a progressing stroke despite adequate anticoagulation.