Focal Epilepsy

LOS ANGELES — For those newly diagnosed with focal epilepsy and given antiseizure medications, most will be sensitive to treatment, with seizure freedom likely to occur after the first year of administration, according to a presenter.

Among adolescents with focal epilepsy, nonmotor seizures are more often missed or misdiagnosed compared with motor seizures, according to research presented in Neurology.

ORLANDO — While effective medications for epilepsy exist, scientific advancement requires that future gene-targeting therapies or cures benefit the largest number of patients while overcoming several barriers, according to a presentation.

ORLANDO — Individuals with treatment-resistant focal epilepsy that required multiple antiseizure medications saw their seizure frequency significantly reduced after 1 year, according to a poster.

ORLANDO — For a small cohort of individuals with focal epilepsy, “neighborhood disadvantage” was associated with poorer cognition including learning, memory and executive function, according to a poster.

BOSTON — Implantation of GABAergic interneuron cells in two patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy resulted in significant seizure reduction, according to preliminary data presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.

In adults with drug-refractory focal epilepsy, treatment with an implanted neurostimulation device was safe and associated with significant reduction in seizure frequency, according to a study published in JAMA Neurology.

Transdermal CBD was well tolerated and safe among those with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, although no efficacy was observed compared with placebo during a 12-week treatment period, researchers reported in JAMA Network Open.

Neurona Therapeutics has announced that a phase 1/2 clinical trial for NRTX-1001, a regenerative neural cell therapy for treatment of drug-resistant focal epilepsy in adults, is now underway.