Biomedical subjects

Ayşen Gökyigit

Publications and source records attributed to Ayşen Gökyigit.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Add-on therapy with topiramate in progressive myoclonic epilepsy.

We evaluated the clinical responses to add-on therapy with topiramate in eight patients with progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME). Severe myoclonic seizures disturbing daily activities were persistent despite adequate trials of various combinations of antiepileptic drugs in all patients. After the initiation of topiramate therapy, five patients had a marked decrease in myoclonic seizure frequency, prominent improvement of daily functioning, and recovery from previous drug-related side effects such as weight gain and irregularities of menstruation due to polycystic ovary syndrome. However, we had to discontinue topiramate in three patients because of side effects. Topiramate seems to be a useful alternative agent in the treatment of PME. The antimyoclonic effect provides some independence in daily activities and decreases the side effects related to other antiepileptic drugs, which are clear benefits for this grave disease, although having a short-term effect in some patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Obsessive-compulsive disorder after epilepsy surgery.

It is a well-known fact that after epilepsy surgery (ES) preexisting psychopathology may deteriorate or de novo psychopathological syndromes, mainly of a depressive and psychotic nature, may appear. Previously, recovery of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) after ES has been reported in patients who had comorbid OCD preoperatively; however, there have been no reports on the appearance of de novo OCD interfering with daily living activities post-ES. This is the first report of OCD after ES in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE). Five patients with MTLE were identified with obsessive personality traits before surgery. Within the first 2 months after ES, two of these MTLE patients fulfilled OCD diagnostic criteria. These OCD patients were not any different from the other three patients with respect to age, age of onset of epilepsy, seizure types, and seizure frequency. All patients stopped having seizures postoperatively, but the OCD patients had worse quality of life postoperatively than preoperatively. Our findings show that those patients with obsessive traits preoperatively should be carefully monitored after ES.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: clinical and magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of 36 patients.

We studied 36 patients (24 males, 12 females), all of whom had definite subacute sclerosing panencephalitis with typical periodic complexes in their electroencephalograms and increased titers of measles antibody in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Their clinical and laboratory findings on admission were reviewed retrospectively. The age at onset of symptoms varied from 4 to 23 years. The average age at onset of disease was 13.1 +/- 4.18 years. The mean of the duration from the infection to the onset of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis was 9 years. Unusual symptoms, especially in the early periods of disease, included hemiparesis (7 patients), headache (3), generalized tonic-clonic seizures (6), absence seizure (1), nausea (3), and vomiting (3). Twenty-six cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 12 computed tomography examinations were performed. Nine patients had normal MRI. In the early stages, lesions usually involved parieto-occipital corticosubcortical regions asymmetrically. In time, symmetric periventricular white-matter changes became more prominent. In addition to the common clinical findings in cases of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis reported in the literature, there were some different clinical features of the disease. Eventually, we concluded that there seems to be no correlation between the clinical stages and either the duration from the onset of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis or the MRI findings.

Adolescent↗