A case of hypereosinophilic syndrome with eosinophilic pneumonia, and bronchitis / 천식및알레르기

Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome is characterized by multiorgan involvement without any cause, and peripheral eosinophilia(1,500/microliter) for more than 6 months. Clinically, many organs can be involved, but the heart is the most commonly involved organ. Although lung involvement is usual(20-30%)1) in hypereosinophilic syndrome, there are few reports of eosinophilic pneumonia proven by biopsy confirmation in Korea. We experienced a case of hypereosinophilic syndrome with eosinophilic pneumonia and bronchitis confirmed by biopsy, and we report it here with a review of the literature.

Syndromic Diagnosis at the Epilepsy Clinic: Role of MRI / 대한간질학회지

PURPOSE: To evaluate the application of MRI to the ILAE classification of epilepsies and epileptic syndromes in the setting of epilepsy clinic. METHODS: We reviewed epilepsy registry forms, EEG, and MRI of 300 patients who were consecutively registered to the Yonsei Epilepsy Clinic. The algorhithm of syndromic classification consisted of 3 steps ; 1) clinical diagnosis based on the clinical informations described in the registry form, 2) clinical-EEG correlations, and 3) clinical-EEG-MRI correlations. The interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in EEG were divided into focal, multilobar/multifocal, and generalized. MRI-lesions were divided into focal and non-focal (multilobar/multifocal, and diffuse) lesions. The clinical-EEG, EEG-MRI, and MRI-clinical correlations were categorized as concordant, not discordant, and discordant. RESULTS: Among 300 patients evaluated, 249 patients were found to have epilepsies and both EEG and MRI. By clinical analysis, 190 of 249 patients were diagnosed as localization-related epilepsies (LRE), 24 patients were generalized epilepsies (GE), 34 patients were undetermined epilepsies (UDE), and one patient had alcohol related epilepsy. EEG revealed IEDs in 124 patients and altered the clinical diagnosis in 79 patients. MRI lesions were found in 106 patients with focal lesions in 65 patients and non-focal lesions in 41 patients. MRI lesions were found in 47 of 125 patients with negative EEG. Concordance rates of clinical-EEG, EEG-MRI, and MRI-clinical correlations in 54 patients with lobar epilepsies, who had positive EEG and MRI, were 39%, 54%, and 52%, respectively, and discordant rates were 17%, 11% and 7%, respectively. The complete concordance of all 3 correlations was found in only 33% of them. In 20 patients diagnosed as GE by clinical-EEG correlations, MRI lesions were found in only 3 patients and none of them changed the diagnostic categories due to MRI lesions. CONCLUSION: In lobar epilepsies, the sensitivity of MRI was quite comparable with EEG and the clinical-MRI correlation was superior to the clinical-EEG correlations. MRI provided additional and complimentary informations and should be incorporated to the ILAE-classification system as the category of 'lesional epilepsy'.

Analysis of Ictal Electrocorticographic Features in Nonlesional Neocortical Epilepsy / 대한간질학회지

BACKGROUND: To characterize the ictal electrocorticographic features in relation to surgical outcome in nonlesional neocortical epilepsy (NE). METHODS: Seventeen patients with intractable NE underwent surgeries after chronic subdural recordings. All patients did not have any lesions on brain MRI, which was confirmed by pathology postoperatively. One hundred and eighty one ictal EEGs recorded from subdural electrodes were analyzed. Surgical outcome was determined by seizure reduction rate, and free or more than 75% reduction was defined as favorable outcome. The mean duration of follow-up was 55+/-8.7 months. RESULTS: Reproducible ictal onset zone (IOZ) in more than a half of seizures (p=0.002), and persistent ictal discharges in IOZ from the onset to the end of seizure were found more frequently in the patients with good outcome (p=0.004). Ictal onset patterns consisting of low voltage fast or high amplitude beta spikes predicted a good surgical outcome while rhythmic sinusoidal activity or rhythmic spike/sharp wave were predictive of poor outcome (p=0.01). The ictal onset rhythm consisted of gamma or beta frequencies was more prevalent in the favorable group (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of stable ictal circuit suggested by the consistent earliest activation in more than 50% of seizures and the active participation of IOZ throughout the attack were valuable prognostic factors in addition to the morphology and frequency of ictal onset rhythm.