Alice Melao,  —

Add-on therapy with Fycompa (perampanel) is safe and effective in preventing seizures in adolescents with treatment-resistant refractory epilepsy, according to a real-world retrospective study from Taiwan. The study, “Efficacy and tolerability of perampanel in children and adolescents with pharmacoresistant epilepsy: The first real-world evaluation in Asian…

Autistic disorders are more frequent in people with Dravet syndrome than those with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, but the appearance of this disorder in a patient is not linked to intellectual disability, a study reported. The study, “Few individuals with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome have autism spectrum disorder: a comparison with Dravet syndrome”…

A high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with moderate protein can reduce the frequency of seizures and significantly improve overall health of some children with drug-resistant epileptic syndromes, according to recent research. The study, “Ketogenic diet effects on 52 children with pharmacoresistant epileptic encephalopathy: A clinical prospective study,” was published…

Early identification and diagnosis of seizures can have major implications for their treatment and accurate prognosis. But in most cases it can be a challenge to differentiate between epileptic seizures and abnormal non-epileptic movements early in life, a review study suggests. In the study, “Benign and…

New insights into what causes small brain vessels to leak and promotes blood-brain barrier dysfunction in people with epilepsy were revealed in a recent mouse study. Findings were published in the study, “Matrix Metalloproteinase-Mediated Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Epilepsy,” in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Inhibiting the communication between nerve cells located on different sides of the brain can prevent epilepsy seizures from spreading, a mouse study shows. The study “Dynamic interaction of local and transhemispheric networks is necessary for progressive intensification of hippocampal seizures” was published in the journal Scientific…

An investigative oral medication called ZX008 was seen to effectively reduce the frequency of seizures in children and adolescents with Dravet syndrome, including those who had not responded to prior therapies, and may come to offer  “a new treatment option.” These findings were given in two scientific posters during the…

People with different types of epilepsy have significant brain structure abnormalities, including alterations in the thickness and volume of the gray matter of several regions of the brain, according to a large-scale analysis. Scientists in the international research consortium ENIGMA performed the largest neuroimaging analysis of epilepsy to date…

Noninherited genetic mutations affecting the SCN1A gene may help explain almost 1% of Dravet syndrome cases of unknown cause, according to researchers from Japan. Genetic disorders are commonly inherited from parents who are carriers of the abnormal gene variant that cause the disease. If the disease is recessive, it means the…

Caring for patients with Dravet syndrome places significant physical, emotional and time burdens on caregivers. Supportive services for Dravet families are necessary to improve not only the patients’ outcomes, but also to enhance caregivers’ quality of life, according to a recent survey. The study, “Assessing the impact of…