Biomedical subjects

Eleonora Colosimo

Publications and source records attributed to Eleonora Colosimo.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Reflex periodic spasms induced by eating.

We report on two patients with reflex periodic spasms (PS) triggered by eating. Both patients also had significant cognitive and motor deficits. In both patients, reflex eating PS started during meal and occurred repeatedly at intervals of about 5-30 s, and the whole episode lasted about 10-15 min with 15-20 consecutive PS. Clinically, each PS was characterized by the trunk and head flexion, eyeball elevation, abduction of the upper limbs, and loss of consciousness. Ictal EEG recordings of PS revealed high-voltage sharp slow waves followed by a brief 1-2s voltage attenuation. Simultaneous EMG recording of right and left deltoid muscles revealed an abrupt increase of tone lasting 0.5-1.5s. In two patients, the origins of reflex PS were perirolandic suprasylvian and temporolimbic, respectively, because the first patient had focal epilepsy associated with cortical malformation including bilateral opercular dysplasia and the second one had cryptogenic temporal lobe epilepsy.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Levetiracetam in patients with generalised epilepsy and myoclonic seizures: an open label study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam (LEV) as either 'de novo' (monotherapy) or 'add-on' therapy in patients with different generalised epilepsies characterised by myoclonic seizures from an observational study. METHODS: We evaluated 35 patients (21 female, mean age 24.7 years) with different types of generalised epilepsies (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME), severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI), Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), myoclonic-astatic epilepsy (MAE), myoclonic absences (MA), benign myoclonic epilepsy in infancy (BMEI) and 4 patients had unspecified epileptic syndromes). Patients received LEV as de novo monotherapy or add-on therapy. Seizure frequency changes and adverse events were observed. Follow-up was conducted for a period of 12 months after treatment. RESULTS: Patients received LEV 2000-3000 mg/day as de novo (n = 8) and as add-on therapy. In total, 29 (82%) of the 35 patients achieved > or = 50% seizure frequency reduction, 15 (42%) patients achieved seizure freedom while a further 14 (40%) patients achieved > or = 50-99% seizure frequency reduction. Six (17%) patients discontinued LEV due to inefficacy or seizure worsening. Not even a single patient discontinued due to adverse effects. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that LEV as de novo (monotherapy) and add-on therapy at doses between 2000 and 3000 mg/day effectively reduces myoclonic seizure frequency in patients with generalised epilepsy. LEV was also well-tolerated.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

ApoE epsilon4 allele and disease duration affect verbal learning in mild temporal lobe epilepsy.

PURPOSE: To clarify the possible role of other factors including the ApoE epsilon4 allele for memory decline in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: We conducted a neuropsychological and molecular study in 138 consecutive patients (78 female patients; mean age, 50.2 years, SD +/- 17.9; range, 14 to 87 years) with mild nonlesional TLE, who rarely or never had seizures at long-term follow-up. The mean age at seizure onset was 33.0 years (SD, +/-21.7), and the mean duration of epilepsy was 17.1 years (SD, +/-15.7). RESULTS: Thirty-four (25%) of 138 patients had test scores indicating verbal learning deficit (VLD). The presence of an ApoE epsilon4 allele was associated with an increased risk of VLD (OR, 4.18; 95% CI, 1.66-10.55). The effect of the ApoE genotype was independent of both the age at epilepsy onset and disease duration as well as of a low educational level, which were separately associated with VLD (p values = 0.045, 0.001, and 0.001, respectively). A significant linear trend (p = 0.005) was seen in the relation between disease duration and cognitive impairment, with the highest risk being in patients with an epilepsy duration > or =25.5 years (OR, 7.06; 95% CI, 1.67-29.85), especially if they carried the epsilon4 allele (OR, 32.29; 95% CI, 5.23-195.72). CONCLUSIONS: These results provide evidence for an alteration in cognitive performance as a function of the presence of the ApoE epsilon4 allele and point to the critical role of disease duration itself for cognitive impairment in TLE.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Temporal lobe epilepsy as a unique manifestation of multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To report on five patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) as the unique manifestation of multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Among 350 consecutive MS patients, we identified 16/350 (4.6%) who also had epileptic seizures. Here, we review their electrophysiological and clinical features. RESULTS: Five of these 16 patients (four female, one male; mean age 34.2 years; range 31 to 38) with MS and epileptic seizures had an extremely homogeneous clinical picture characterized by TLE as the unique manifestation of MS, even at long follow-up (mean: five years; range 4 to 10). In all patients, seizures started in the second or third decade. Brain MRI revealed at least one juxta-cortical lesion within the temporal region. Antiepileptic medication was always effective. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides the first evidence of a peculiar form of MS characterized by TLE as the unique manifestation of the disease with no disability or MS relapses at long-term follow-up.

Adult↗