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The Latest Epilepsy Research

CURE Epilepsy is dedicated to funding patient-focused research to find a cure for the 65 million people with epilepsy worldwide. This month, we share the following articles and abstracts which are furthering the study of epilepsy and bringing the world closer to a cure.

This issue of Epilepsy Research News includes summaries of articles on:

• Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Associated with Long-Term Dementia Risk

• Epilepsy and the Risk of COVID-19-Related Hospitalization and Death

• Study Looks at the Burden of Illness of Lennox–Gastaut Syndrome on Patients, Caregivers, and Society

• Patterns Across Epilepsy Syndromes Study

• Study Data on Lacosamide and Pregnancy

• Genotype–Phenotype Associations in Individuals with SCN1A-Related Epilepsies

  
  

Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Associated with Long-Term Dementia Risk

In a recent study, using data from the atherosclerosis risk in communities (ARIC) study, researchers assessed the associations between post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) and the risk of dementia. PTE is the occurrence of unprovoked seizures more than a week after a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and it accounts for up to 20% of acquired epilepsies. Research suggests that PTE is associated with poor short-term psychosocial, cognitive, and functional outcomes; however, less is known about the long-term impact of PTE.

Epilepsy and the Risk of COVID-19-Related Hospitalization and Death

Researchers found that people with epilepsy may be at an increased risk of severe COVID-19. The study assessed whether people with epilepsy were at higher risk of being hospitalized with, or dying from, COVID-19. Researchers performed a retrospective study using anonymized electronic health records. In this large, population-level study of more than 27,000 people with epilepsy, researchers found that people with epilepsy were more likely to have a COVID-19-related hospitalization or death when compared to controls during the first 15 months of the pandemic in Wales.

Study Looks at the Burden of Illness of Lennox–Gastaut Syndrome on Patients, Caregivers, and Society

In a recent systematic literature review, researchers evaluated the global burden of illness of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) including clinical symptom burden, care requirements, quality of life, comorbidities, caregiver burden, economic burden, and treatment burden. LGS is a rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathy that is estimated to account for 1%–10% of childhood epilepsies. In the study, published articles with predetermined criteria were identified with 113 articles included for review. A high clinical symptom burden of LGS was identified including high seizure frequency and non-seizure symptoms such as developmental delay and intellectual disability, leading to low quality of life and substantial care requirements, with the latter including daily function assistance for mobility, eating, and toileting.

Patterns Across Epilepsy Syndromes Study

Epilepsy is a prevalent, chronic group of neurological diseases that affects more than 70 million people worldwide and encompasses many different disorders, of which temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common in adults. Current models of the neurological condition conceptualize epilepsy as involving widespread cortical and subcortical network disturbances, including reduced cortical thickness and white matter abnormalities. As such, studies have frequently overlooked the cerebellum. However, evidence from electrophysiological and optogenetic studies in animals, as well as noninvasive imaging studies in humans, indicates a role for the cerebellum in seizure generation.

Study Data on Lacosamide and Pregnancy

In pregnancy, it is important to balance the risks of uncontrolled epileptic seizures to the mother and fetus against the potential negative effects of antiseizure medications on the unborn child. Data are limited on pregnancy outcomes among pregnant women taking lacosamide (LCM), particularly when taken as the only medication in a treatment plan. The study evaluated the pregnancy outcomes of LCM-exposed pregnancies.

Genotype–Phenotype Associations in Individuals with SCN1A-Related Epilepsies

A recent study assesses data from a retrospective cohort of 1,018 individuals with SCN1A-related epilepsies, exploring how seizure characteristics, genetic variant type, position, and in silico scores relate to the epilepsy phenotype. Understanding genotype–phenotype associations in SCN1A-related epilepsies is critical for early diagnosis and management. Pathogenic variants in SCN1A, the gene coding for the alpha-1 subunit of the voltage-gated sodium channel, are associated with a range of epilepsy syndromes from relatively mild phenotypes in the genetic epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) spectrum to Dravet syndrome (DS), a severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathy. DS usually presents at approximately five–six months of age with prolonged, febrile and afebrile, hemiclonic or generalized clonic seizures. From age nine months to four years, other seizure types, including myoclonic, absence, and focal seizures, develop.

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