Epilepsy News

The FDA expanded its approval of lacosamide to include adjunctive therapy for primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures as well as an IV formulation for patients aged 4 years and older, according a press release.

Noncommunicable neurological disorders resulted in “a large and increasing burden” in the United States, according to a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease study from 2017 that was published in JAMA Neurology.

Patients with focal nonmotor seizures experienced a delay from first seizure to diagnosis that was 10 times longer than patients with motor seizures at the time of onset, according to findings published in Epilepsia.

Use of the antiepileptic valproate during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in offspring during early childhood, according to research published in Scientific Reports.

Medial student curriculum needs to include more training for EEG and epilepsy, according to researchers.

Adults with epilepsy identified treatment for anxiety and depression as a priority and ranked neurologists’ prescribing of pharmacotherapy and wellness activities as their most preferred options for management.

Researchers found that about one in five patients who visited a neurologist had to travel outside their home region for care, and the median travel distance was approximately 68 miles round trip.

Polytherapy, especially the use of three or more antiepileptic drugs, correlated with a substantially decreased risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, according to findings from a nationwide case-control study conducted in Sweden.

Ketamine successfully reduced seizure burden among patients with super-refractory status epilepticus with no impact on intracranial pressure, cerebral blood flow or cerebral perfusion pressure, according to findings published in Neurology.

Almost 3 million children in the United States have epilepsy, making it the most common childhood brain disorder in the country, according to estimates from the American Academy of Pediatrics.