ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that nonconvulsive seizures elicited by a low dose of kainic acid may induce acute as well as chronic changes in brain function. Cortical epileptic afterdischarges (ADs) characterized by spike-and-wave rhythm and clonic seizures of facial and forelimb muscles were elicited in adult male rats with chronically implanted electrodes. Four stimulations were given in each of four weekly sessions. In the second session, 26 animals were injected with kainic acid (6 mg/kg i.p.) and 19 rats received no injection. The acute effects of kainic acid were to increase the intensity of movements accompanying stimulation and abruptly prolong ADs. Epileptic ADs were followed by a depression of electrocorticographic activity in both noninjected and kainic acid groups. In addition, when kainate was administered, interictal spike activity was registered mostly in the occipital region. One and two weeks after kainate administration, i.e. in the third and fourth stimulation sessions, there was an increased incidence of transitions from spike-and-wave ADs to another, limbic type of afterdischarge. This functional change persisted although no obvious neuronal death was found in the hippocampi of 12 other rats that received the same dose of kainic acid.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Cortex/drug effects , Electroencephalography/drug effects , Kainic Acid/pharmacology , Seizures/chemically induced , Animals , Electric Stimulation , Male , Rats , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
The authors describe the clinical and electroencephalographic findings in 220 children with focal and secondary generalized epilepsies without gross structural aetiology, with the aim of evaluating the significance of hemispheric motor prevalence for the formation, activity and possibility of compensation of the focus. Focal epileptogenesis was observed significantly more often: a) in partial seizures with elementary symptomatology in the motor non-dominant hemisphere, b) in the motor non-dominant hemisphere in boys, c) in the whole series, irrespective of the form of epilepsy and sex, in the motor nondominant hemisphere in children under the age of six and in the motor dominant hemisphere in children over the age of six. The findings in partial seizures with an elementary motor symptomatology probably arise from the very close relationship to motor areas of the cerebral cortex, in boys from evidently greater hemispheric functional asymmetry than in girls and the age correlation from unequal maturation of functionally identical parts of the brain hemispheres during ontogenesis.
Subject(s)
Dominance, Cerebral , Epilepsies, Partial/etiology , Motor Cortex/physiopathology , Age Factors , Child , Child, Preschool , Electroencephalography , Female , Humans , Male , Sex FactorsABSTRACT
The authors present an account on 14 patients with markedly pharmaco-resistant age-conditioned epileptic encephalopathies (4 x West's syndrome, 5 x Lennox-Gastaut's syndrome and 5 x an intermediate stage of the two), treated with large doses of vitamin B6 (Pyridoxin Spofa). The mean age at the onset of therapy was 2.5 years (0.5-6 years). In addition to hitherto unsuccessful medication, the patients were given at first five-day treatment of vitamin B6 50-100 mg/day by the i.m. route, and then 200-300 mg/day orally. A marked clinical effect was recorded in five children, in another five it was less marked and usually only transient. Only in four patients the seizures were not affected, incl. three times in Lennox-Gastaut's syndrome. The EEG changes correlated with the clinical course. The authors recommend to attempt early administration of large doses of vitamin B6 in refractory age-conditioned epilepsies in the first three years of life.
Subject(s)
Epilepsy/drug therapy , Pyridoxine/administration & dosage , Spasms, Infantile/drug therapy , Child, Preschool , Electroencephalography , Epilepsy/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Pyridoxine/therapeutic use , Spasms, Infantile/physiopathologyABSTRACT
The authors administered to 18 children with an expressed pharmaco-resistant Lennox-Gastaut syndrome as adjuvant treatment medium doses of amantadine (Viregyt-K, Egyt), 8 mg/kg/day divided into 1-2 portions or L-DOPA (Nakom, Lek) 22 mg/kg/day in 3-4 portions. The mean age at the time of administration of the agonist or dopamine precursor was 5 years (1-12.5 years). A very favourable clinical effect was recorded in eight children, in another five the positive effect was less obvious and was transient. Only in five instances the paroxysmal manifestations were not affected. Reduction of the EEG pathology corresponded to the clinical improvement. In 11 children the psychic make-up was favourably influenced and only once polymorphous hyperkinesias developed after Nakom administration. The authors assume that dopaminergic substances may play a part in the pathogenesis of some epileptic syndromes, in particular in the period of early ontogenesis of the brain.
