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Biomedical subjects

Cesare Maria Cornaggia

Publications and source records attributed to Cesare Maria Cornaggia.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Accidents at work among people with epilepsy. Results of a European prospective cohort study.

Studies on accidents at work in people with epilepsy are scarce and the evidence that epilepsy carries an increased risk of accidents at work is mostly anecdotal. The present survey is a multicentre prospective cohort study of everyday life risks recently conducted in eight European countries (Estonia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia and United Kingdom) comparing referral children and adults with epilepsy to age- and sex-matched non-epileptic controls. In this context, every accident occurring during work over a 1-3 year follow-up was prospectively reported by patients and controls. Six hundred and thirty-one adult patients with epilepsy and 592 controls from this cohort have been studied here. Each patient and his/her control received a diary to record any accident or illness, with severity, circumstances, causes, consequences (including days off-work) and (for the cases) the possible relation to a seizure. A slightly higher number of unskilled workers were present among patients with epilepsy than in controls. Twenty-two patients with epilepsy and nine controls reported accidents during work (p<0.05). Only two cases reported seizure-related accidents. In both groups the injuries were mild (only one requiring hospitalization) and caused abstention from work to the same extent. In patients with epilepsy, the risk of accidents was unaffected by seizure type and frequency. This study confirms that patients with epilepsy are at higher risk of accidents compared to the general population. However, injuries provoked by work accidents are generally mild and unrelated to seizures.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed2006

Learning disorders in epilepsy.

Learning disorders (LD) are disorders interfering with academic performance or with daily living activities requiring reading, writing, or mathematical abilities in subjects with a normal intelligence quotient. The prevalence of LD in the general population has been found to be 2-10% and reading disorders are the most frequent subtype. Epilepsy is one of the commonest neurological disorders in childhood with an estimated prevalence in 4-5/1,000. Epilepsy is considered to be idiopathic or cryptogenic in approximately two-thirds of cases. LD are more common in people with epilepsy than in the general population: about 25% of patients with epilepsy are said to have LD. Various psychosocial, medication-related, and epilepsy-related factors may be associated with LD in epilepsy. LD can be either permanent or state-dependent. Permanent LD are caused by a brain lesion and/or a stable brain dysfunction. In contrast, state-dependent LD are potentially reversible and treatable; they are caused by epilepsy-related factors. If allowed to persist for a long period, a state-dependent LD may become permanent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Correlation between cognition and behavior in epilepsy.

Cognitive function is more frequently impaired in people with epilepsy than in the general population, and the degree of cognitive impairment varies according to the epilepsy syndrome. Behavioral disorders are also more frequent in people with epilepsy than in individuals who do not have epilepsy. Behavioral disturbance is observed more frequently in people with drug-resistant epilepsy, frequent seizures, and/or associated neurological or mental abnormalities. In children and adolescents, many data suggest a close link between behavior/cognition and some specific epilepsy syndromes. For example, aspects of mood, behavior, personality, and cognition may be related to temporal lobe epilepsy or juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. Behavioral disorders may precede, occur with, or follow a diagnosis of epilepsy; they differ between children and adults. Predictors of behavioral disorders in children with epilepsy are the epilepsy itself, treatment, the underlying lesion, and personal reactions to epilepsy. More specifically, conditions in which behavioral disorders may be associated with epilepsy include depression, psychosis, particular personality traits, aggression, anxiety, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Idiopathic generalized epilepsies of adolescence.

The prevalence of idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGEs) has been assessed as being 15-20% of all epilepsies. The seizure types in IGEs are typical absences, myoclonic jerks, and generalized tonic-clonic seizures (TCS), alone or in varying combinations and with variable severity. The seizures tend to be more frequent on awakening and with sleep deprivation. This group of clinical conditions includes among others, age-related epilepsy syndromes of adolescence such as juvenile absence epilepsy (JAE), juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), and IGE with generalized TCS or epilepsy with grand mal on awakening (EGMA). The classification of IGEs follows two schools of thought; one maintains that IGEs are a group of different and separate syndromes while the other suggests that IGEs are one biological continuum. Patients with IGEs may have mild impairment of cognitive functions, especially verbal memory and other frontal lobe functions, despite a normal IQ, and some seem to have characteristic personality traits, although further studies are needed to support this theory. They appear to lack a degree of self-control, to neglect their physical needs, and are poorly compliant with therapy. Some patients become obstinate and are impressionable. The cognitive and behavioral aspects of these patients suggest an involvement of frontal lobes.

Adolescent↗