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Introduction: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) present difficulties in diagnosis and management and facilities to manage these children vary greatly. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a multi-disciplinary inpatient epilepsy/ neuropsychiatric service in improving outcomes of children with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. Methods: This retrospective study identifies lessons learnt from managing children with PNES in a specialist inpatient facility in Oxford, United Kingdom over a ten-year period. Forty-two children were identified and categorised into 3 groups: group A (n=21) with one or more epileptic seizures prior to the onset of PNES; group B (n=6) with no epileptic events but interictal EEG showing epileptiform discharge and; group C (n=15) with no prior epileptic events and normal interictal EEGs. All patients received inpatient input for 6-8 weeks from a multidisciplinary team (MDT) led by a neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist with special interest in paediatric epilepsy, supported by experienced nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists and hospital schoolteachers. Results: Following initial investigations (including video-telemetry) to exclude organic pathology, a positive diagnosis of PNES was conveyed to the family, followed by several meetings to answer questions and explore non-drug interventions. Psychological therapies involved exploring areas of stress, introducing the ‘idea of gain’ and helping to develop alternative coping mechanisms. Anticonvulsants were gradually withdrawn in many cases. At discharge, episodes of PNES had stopped in the majority of children (20/21 (95%) in group A, 6/6 (100%) in group B and 12/15 (80%) in group C. Conclusion: In our series, the facility of an inpatient epilepsy/neuropsychiatric service allowed for rapid thorough assessment and subsequent successful management of PNES. Early involvement of an MDT allowed children and their parents the space to accept the diagnosis and move forward.

BackgroundThe neonatal period carries the highest risk of bacterial meningitis (~ 1 in 5000 births), bearing high mortality (~ 10%) and morbidity (20–50%) rates. Lumbar puncture (LP) remains essential to the diagnosis of meningitis. Though LP is a common procedure in neonates, success rates are lower (50–60%) than in other patient populations. None of the currently-practised neonatal LP techniques are supported by evidence from adequately-powered, randomised controlled trials (RCTs). NeoCLEAR aims to compare two modifications to the traditional technique which are free, accessible, and commonly practised: sitting (as opposed to lying) position, and ‘early’ (as opposed to ‘late’) stylet removal.Methods/designWritten parental informed consent permitting, infants in neonatal/maternity wards, of 27+ 0to 44+ 0weeks corrected gestational age and weighing ≥1000 g, who require an LP, will be randomly allocated to sitting or lying position, and to early or late stylet removal. The co-primary objectives are to compare success rates (the proportion of infants with cerebrospinal fluid red cell count 3on first LP procedure) in 1020 infants between the two positions, and between the two methods of stylet removal. Secondary outcomes relate to LP procedures, complications, diagnoses of meningitis, duration of antibiotics and hospital stay. A modified intention-to-treat analysis will be conducted.DiscussionTwo modifications to the traditional LP technique (sitting vs lying position; and early vs late stylet removal) will be simultaneously investigated in an efficient and appropriately-powered 2 × 2 factorial RCT design. Analysis will identify the optimal techniques (in terms of obtaining easily-interpretable cerebrospinal fluid), as well as the impact on infants, parents and healthcare systems whilst providing robust safety data. Using a pragmatic RCT design, all practitioners will be trained in all LP techniques, but there will inevitably be variation between unit practice guidelines and other aspects of individual care.An improved LP technique would result in:• Fewer uninterpretable samples, repeated attempts and procedures• Reduced distress for infants and families• Decreased antibiotic use and risk of antibiotic resistance• Reduced healthcare costs due to fewer procedures, reduced length of stay, shorter antibiotic courses, and minimised antibiotic-associated complicationsTrial registrationISRCTN14040914. Date assigned: 26/06/2018.

AIM: Paediatric opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a poorly understood condition with long-term cognitive, behavioural, and motor sequelae. Neuroimaging has indicated cerebellar atrophy in the chronic phase, but this alone may not explain the cognitive sequelae seen in many children with OMS. This study aimed to determine the extent of structural change throughout the brain that may underpin the range of clinical outcomes. METHOD: Nine participants with OMS (one male, eight females; mean age [SD] 14y, [6y 5mo], range 12-30y) and 10 comparison individuals (three males, seven females; mean age 12y 6mo, [4y 9mo], range 10-23y) underwent magnetic resonance imaging to acquire T1-weighted structural images, diffusion-weighted images, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans. Neuroblastoma had been present in four participants with OMS. Voxel-based morphometry was used to determine changes in grey matter volume, tract-based spatial statistics to analyze white matter integrity, and Freesurfer to analyze cortical thickness across visual and motor cortices. RESULTS: Whole-brain analysis indicated that cerebellar grey matter was significantly reduced in the patients with OMS, particularly in the vermis and flocculonodular lobe. A region-of-interest analysis indicated significantly lower cerebellar grey matter volume, particularly in patients with the greatest OMS scores. Diffusion-weighted images did not show effects at a whole brain level, but all major cerebellar tracts showed increased mean diffusivity when analysis was restricted to the cerebellum. Cortical thickness was reduced across the motor and visual areas in the OMS group, indicating involvement beyond the cerebellum. INTERPRETATION: Across individuals with OMS, there is considerable cerebellar atrophy, particularly in the vermis and flocculonodular lobes with atrophy severity associated with persistent symptomatology. Differences in cerebral cortical thickness indicate disease effects beyond the cerebellum.

Pigs' feet are traditionally consumed by Korean women to increase milk production during lactation. In this study, we evaluated the perceived effectiveness and safety of consuming pigs' feet. Parous women were recruited to complete survey questionnaires in South Korea. Of the 516 respondents, 188 (36%) claimed they consumed pigs' feet. One-hundred twenty women (64%) who consumed pigs' feet reported experiencing an increase in breast milk production. Seventy-three (61%) women from this same group exclusively breastfed. In contrast, 16 (25%) of 65 respondents who did not embrace the same purported effect of pigs' feet indicated that they solely breastfed. Ninety-eight (82%) respondents who consumed pigs' feet and reported galactagoguic effects would recommend its use. Study findings reveal that the majority of women who consume pigs' feet believe in its milk-promoting effects. The results of this study suggest that further investigation of the galactagoguic effects of pigs' feet via conduction of an experimental study is warranted.

Aim Opsoclonus–myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a rare, poorly understood condition that can result in long-term cognitive, behavioural, and motor sequelae. Several studies have investigated structural brain changes associated with this condition, but little is known about changes in function. This study aimed to investigate changes in brain functional connectivity in patients with OMS. Method Seven patients with OMS and 10 age-matched comparison participants underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to acquire resting-state functional MRI data (whole-brain echo-planar images; 2mm isotropic voxels; multiband factor ×2) for a cross-sectional study. A seed-based analysis identified brain regions in which signal changes over time correlated with the cerebellum. Model-free analysis was used to determine brain networks showing altered connectivity. Results In patients with OMS, the motor cortex showed significantly reduced connectivity, and the occipito-parietal region significantly increased connectivity with the cerebellum relative to the comparison group. A model-free analysis also showed extensive connectivity within a visual network, including the cerebellum and basal ganglia, not present in the comparison group. No other networks showed any differences between groups. Interpretation Patients with OMS showed reduced connectivity between the cerebellum and motor cortex, but increased connectivity with occipito-parietal regions. This pattern of change supports widespread brain involvement in OMS.

To evaluate the cost effectiveness of genetic screening for the apolipoprotein (APOE) e4 allele in combination with preventive donepezil treatment in comparison with the standard of care for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (AMCI) patients in Canada. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis using a Markov model with a societal perspective and a time horizon of 30 years. For each strategy, we calculated quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), using utilities from the literature. Costs were also based on the literature and, when appropriate, Ontario sources. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Expected value of perfect information (EVPI) analysis was conducted to explore the value of future research. The base case results in our exploratory study suggest that the combination of genetic testing and preventive donepezil treatment resulted in a gain of 0.027 QALYs and an incremental cost of $1,015 (in 2009 Canadian dollars [Can$]), compared with the standard of care. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for the base case was Can$38,016 per QALY. The ICER was sensitive to the effectiveness of donepezil in slowing the rate of progression to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), utility in AMCI patients, and AD and donepezil treatment costs. EVPI analysis showed that additional information on these parameters would be of value. Using presently available clinical evidence, this exploratory study illustrates that genetic testing combined with preventive donepezil treatment for AMCI patients may be economically attractive. Since our results were based on a secondary post hoc analysis, our study alone is insufficient to warrant recommending APOE genotyping in AMCI patients. Future research on the effectiveness of preventive donepezil as a targeted therapy is recommended.