ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Background: In Latin America, epilepsy in the elderly is a neglected issue that has never been studied. The epidemiological transition has significantly altered the demographics of epilepsy, and therefore, we would like to draw attention to this topic. Objective: We require local real-world evidence, as the literature often depicts a different scenario, including pharmacological management. Methods: From 2007 to 2018, we recruited all patients with new-onset geriatric epilepsy (first seizure after the age of 60) tracked from ten Mexican hospitals, adding them to patients with similar characteristics from a previously published study. The diagnosis was confirmed in all patients by a certified neurologist, and they were also studied using a conventional electroencephalogram and imaging workup. Results: A diagnosis of new-onset geriatric epilepsy (Elderly patients was established in 100 cases. No specific cause was found in 26% of patients, while 42% had a stroke and 10% had neurocysticercosis (NCC). Monotherapy was the choice in 83 patients, and phenytoin was the most used drug (50%), followed by carbamazepine (25%). Conclusion: NCC remains a frequent cause of new-onset geriatric epilepsy. This distribution is not seen in the literature, mainly representing patients from wealthy economies. In our setting, financial constraints influence the choice of the drug, and newer antiepileptic drugs should be made more affordable to this population with economic and physical frailty.
ABSTRACT
Los problemas radiculo-medulares de etiología diversa que afectan a nivel cervical, constituyen en la edad adulta un motivo frecuente de consulta. Los estudios electrofisiológicos son de importante valor diagnóstico, en la evaluación de éstas etiologías. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue evaluar la utilidad diagnóstica del reflejo H (RH) en pacientes con síndrome de compresión medular y/o radicular a nivel cervical en un estudio observacional, transversal, prospectivo y comparativo. Se estudiaron de junio a noviembre de 1996 en el Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía nueve pacientes, cuatro masculinos y cinco femeninos, con rango de edad de 26 a 72 años y promedio de 42.7 ñ 14.9 años, se excluyeron aquellos con cirugías previas de columna cervical, neuropatía periférica o enfermedad de motoneurona de asta anterior. Los parámetros evaluados del RH fueron su latencia, amplitud y diferencia lado a lado en latencia y su comparación lado a lado tienen mayor valor clínico que la amplitud como parámetros de anormalidad. Al realizar la comparación de los resultados del RH con los estudios de imagen se observó que existe alta correlación (r = 0.83)