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Objective The long-term development of public attitudes towards people with epilepsy ( PWE) was studied. Methods Four questions (Q) used in Czech questionnaires for studies in 1981, 1984, 1998 and 2009 concerned: Q1, familiarity with the concept of epilepsy; Q2, tolerance towards children with epilepsy; Q3, whether epilepsy is considered to be a mental disease; and Q4, attitudes towards employment of PWE. Results The quality of information about epilepsy increased significantly between 1981 and 1998, 1981 and 2009, and 1998 and 2009. The 1981 and 1984 studies reflected a level of information inferior to the levels seen in Germany and the USA, and the difference had almost disappeared in 1998 and 2009. Conclusions The long-term follow-up studies in Czech Republic displayed a permanent increase in knowledge about epilepsy. This may reflect the progress in the spread of information, the efforts of patient associations and specialists and perhaps also a change in general attitudes towards people with disabilities. The dramatic change of information levels in Czech surveys could also reflect the change of the political system in 1989. A question that remains to be answered is the extent to which the positive trend reflects positive attitudes in real life. The answers to questions concerning whether people would be willing to help a person having a seizure remain unsatisfactory. Greater efforts should be made to improve the situation of PWE and to minimize their stigmatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates trends in public familiarity with and attitudes towards people with epilepsy over a 16-year time-period. A survey exploring the Czech public's attitudes towards and knowledge of epilepsy used a modified version of a questionnaire first used in the USA in 1949, and in the Federal Republic of Germany beginning in 1968. This survey was carried out for the first time in the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) in 1981, and then again in 1984. There was no significant difference between the 1981 and 1984 responses. A slightly modified questionnaire was used in 1997–1998, with evaluable responses gathered from 235 people. In comparison with the 1981 study, people's acquaintance with epilepsy was significantly higher in 1997–1998. In 1997–1998, about 94% of the people surveyed had some information about epilepsy (78% in 1981). Intolerance towards children with epilepsy dropped from 29 to 13%. About 30% of the people surveyed considered epilepsy to be a mental disease (50% in 1981). Employment of people with epilepsy was recommended by 74% (42% in 1981). In contrast with the situation about 16 years earlier, there were fewer important differences from the results of similar surveys taken in other European countries. However, the answers concerning the willingness to help a person having a seizure show that, despite certain progress, the quality of information that the Czech population has is not fully satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The psychological consequences of trauma related to the Holocaust have been primarily studied in samples derived from Israel, North America, and Western Europe. Few studies have examined postcommunist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The present study focused on three generations living in the Czech Republic and Slovakia after World War II (WWII): Holocaust survivors (71-95 years of age), their children (30-73 years of age), and their grandchildren (15-48 years of age). We compared scores on measures of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS; the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version) and posttraumatic growth (PTG; the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory) derived from three focal samples with scores from age-matched comparison participants. Higher PTSS scores emerged for Holocaust survivors in all generations, η 2 P=.087 but only participants in the first generation reported higher PTG scores relative to the comparison group, with small effect sizes for the overall group differences, η 2 P=.029 . These results are discussed in the historical and political context of postwar Czechoslovakia., (© 2021 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.)

Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS) is the most frequent benign focal epilepsy in childhood. Although it is described as a benign epilepsy syndrome, many studies have revealed that a significant number of patients have some degree of neuropsychological impairment. Thirty-two patients with BCECTS aged 6-11years were included in the study. All patients (without any antiepileptic or psychiatric medication) underwent all-night EEG monitoring and complex neuropsychological testing to diagnose the presence of core symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The spike index (number of spikes per minute) on awake and asleep EEG, age at seizure onset, family history of epilepsy, and perinatal risks were correlated with the results of neuropsychological testing. Of the 32 patients, 21 patients (65.6%) fulfilled the criteria for ADHD diagnosis. Children who were younger at epilepsy onset demonstrated lower IQ and higher attention deficit (P=0.004) and higher impulsivity (P=0.016). The occurence of epileptiform discharges on nocturnal EEG was positively related to higher attention deficit and higher impulsivity. The findings are discussed in terms of how interictal discharges in the centrotemporal region during sleep affect the development of cognitive functions in children during critical epochs of neuropsychological development., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We performed a retrospective, multicenter, open-label study to evaluate the efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in all patients in the Czech Republic who have received this treatment for at least 5 years (n=90). The mean last follow-up was 6.6+/-1.1 years (79+/-13 months). The median number of seizures among all patients decreased from 41.2 seizures/month in the prestimulation period to 14.9 seizures/month at 5 years follow-up visit. The mean percentage of seizure reduction was 55.9%. The responder rate in these patients is in concordance with the decrease of overall seizure frequency. At 1 year after beginning the stimulation, 44.4% of patients were responders; this percentage increased to 58.7% after 2 years. At the 5 years last follow-up 64.4% of patients were responders, 15.5% experienced > or = 90% seizure reduction, and 5.5% were seizure-free. A separate analysis of patients younger than 16 years of age showed lower efficacy rates of VNS in comparison to the whole group. Complications and chronic adverse effects occurred in 13.3% of patients. VNS is an effective and safe method to refractory epilepsy in common clinical practice.

Purpose: Benign neonatal familial convulsions (BNFCs) represent a rare epileptic disorder with autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. To date, two voltage-gated potassium (K+) channel genes, KCNQ2 and KCNQ3, have been identified in typical BNFC families. The study of new pedigrees may help detect new mutations and define genotype-phenotype correlations., Methods: A large Czech family was detected in which BNFC was inherited together with a broad range of various nonneonatal epileptic phenotypes. Genetic linkage study and direct mutation analysis were performed to find the disease-causing mutation., Results: In seven patients with BNFCs and no recurrence of seizures, a novel two-base-pair deletion (1369del2) was identified within the coding sequence of the KCNQ2 gene. The mutation led to a putative protein that lacked nearly all its carboxyl terminus part, which plays a critical role for the accurate expression of the functional K+ channels. Three patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCSs), all without any history of BNFCs, also displayed 1369del2. Three other patients with other idiopathic epileptic phenotypes did not have the mutation., Conclusions: A novel 2-bp deletion within the coding sequence of the potassium channel KCNQ2 gene was detected in patients from a large and heterogeneous family with BNFCs or non-BNFC seizures.