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Background: Many neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and seizures do not respond to the first line antiepileptic drug, phenobarbital. Little is known about what factors are associated with its failure. Objective: To examine factors associated with failure of phenobarbital therapy in neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and seizures. Design/Methods: A single-center retrospective review of 50 term (>35 weeks) neonates with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and seizures treated with phenobarbital as the first-line antiepileptic. Neonates were classified into either responders (n = 30) or nonresponders (n = 20). Nonresponse was defined as continued seizures after maximum dosing of phenobarbital or an additional antiepileptic. Subjects with acceptable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans obtained within 2 weeks of birth were included in the study and rated using an MRI injury scoring system. Charts were reviewed for demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables. Resuscitation and seizure scores were also calculated. Electroencephalographic (EEG) background activity was reviewed in 2 different time epochs (12-24 hours and 24-36 hours of life) and graded as per ACNS guidelines. Results: There were no significant group differences in demographic, clinical, and laboratory variables except nonresponders, who had higher mean seizure score (P =.01) and significantly more injury on MRI scan for white matter (P =.004), parenchymal cortex (P =.027), and watershed (P =.009) regions. Neonates with moderately abnormal or severely abnormal background EEG responded poorly to phenobarbital. Conclusion: In the presence of above factors, one can anticipate that additional antiepileptic medication may be needed. These data also support that larger studies should be done to look prospectively at using alternative agents first line in patients with severe injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central nervous system comorbidities have been identified in patients with epilepsy. Several of these comorbidities have been correlated with poor surgery outcomes in patient cohorts. The authors sought to determine if prevalence of comorbidities in pediatric epilepsy surgery patients and their families correlate with long-term seizure outcome in a cross-sectional analysis. Three-generation pedigrees were elicited to compare family history of epilepsy, ADHD, anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, cognitive disability, depression, migraine, and motor disability to surgery outcomes in 52 patients. Proportions of affected patients and relatives were compared to general population comorbidity rates and the patients' most recent seizure outcome classification. Patients and families had significantly higher rates of comorbidities than the general population. Poorer long-term seizure outcomes following resective surgery were associated with autism or cognitive disability in patients. Together these data support evidence for a common pathophysiological mechanism between epilepsy and central nervous system comorbidities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of nonconvulsive seizures and nonconvulsive status epilepticus in patients with abusive head trauma who underwent electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring and to describe predictive factors for this population. Children with a diagnosis of abusive head trauma were studied retrospectively to determine the rate of EEG monitoring, the rate of nonconvulsive seizures and nonconvulsive status epilepticus, and the associated neuroimaging findings. Over 11 years, 73 of 199 (36.8%) children with abusive head trauma had electroencephalography monitoring performed. Of these, 20 (27.4%) had nonconvulsive seizures and 3 (4.1%) had nonconvulsive status epilepticus. The presence of subarachnoid hemorrhage and cortical T2 / fluid-attenuated inversion recovery signal abnormalities were both significantly associated with the presence of nonconvulsive seizures / nonconvulsive status epilepticus. Nonconvulsive seizures are relatively common in abusive head trauma and may go unrecognized. Specific neuroimaging characteristics increase the likelihood of nonconvulsive seizures on EEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored predictors of response to vagus nerve stimulation in childhood-onset epilepsy. This retrospective chart review included all patients with new vagus nerve stimulator insertion between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2011. Primary outcome was change in seizure frequency classified on the International League Against Epilepsy scale. Overall, 67.4% (95% confidence limits 53.3%-81.6%) of the patients had outcome of class 4 or better, and 4 patients (9.3%, 95% confidence interval 0.5%-18.1%) achieved complete seizure freedom (mean follow-up 3.5 y). Absence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesion (odds ratio 6.068, 95% confidence interval 1.214-30.329, P = .028) and duration of epilepsy before implantation (odds ratio 1.291, 95% confidence interval 1.015-1.642, P = .038) were found to be statistically significant predictors of good outcome and provided a sufficient fit to the data (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve .80, Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit P = .92). This study provides preliminary evidence that nonlesional patients are significantly more likely to have better outcome with vagus nerve stimulation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]