A retrospective observation study of 15 patients ( median age 21yrs) with Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis suggests that while the diffuse cerebral atrophy can be reversible the cerebellar atrophy is irreversible and associated with a poor clinical outcome. In an accompanying editorial Dr Maarten J. Titulaer writes that progressive cerebellar atrophy is a potential biomarker for less favorable response in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis, especially in those admitted to the ICU. In addition, the development of diffuse cerebral atrophy should not be a reason to withhold treatment in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis. Overall, the outcome is...

Zika virus, a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes febrile illness associated with rash, has been rapidly emerging in the Western Hemisphere over the past few months. The virus was rarely identified until outbreaks occurred on Yap Island in the Federated States of Micronesia in 2007, French Polynesia in 2013, and Easter Island in 2014. It was initially detected in Brazil in 2015, in the northeast, and was subsequently identified in other states and several South American countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Suriname, Venezuela, French Guyana, and Paraguay (1). Local transmission has been documented in Central America (Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, and...

The trajectory of cortical gray matter development in childhood is characterized by increase in volume resulting from early neurogenesis, peaking at puberty and subsequently losing volume and thinning by selective elimination and myelination. Although this inverted U-shaped trajectory, as well as cortical thickness has been associated with cognitive and emotional function there is no current data to relate this to childhood depression unlike in adult patients where decreased cortical gray matter has been shown to be associated with depression.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a prevalent neurological disorder resulting in disruptive seizures. In the case of drug resistant epilepsy resective surgery is often considered. This is a procedure hampered by unpredictable success rates, with many patients continuing to have seizures even after surgery.

In a study published online in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine, researchers from the Departments of Emergency Medicine at Orlando Regional Medical, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children ,Orlando, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia examined the performance of serum glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in detecting traumatic intracranial lesions on computed tomography (CT) scan in children and youth with mild and moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) and assessed its performance in trauma control patients without head trauma.

In a study published online in Annals of Neurology, researchers from the University of South Australia in Adelaide have identified mutations in GATOR1 complex as the most significant cause of familial focal epilepsy identified to date.

A retrospective study on 71 children with refractory epilepsy looking at the effect of concomitant AED use on the efficacy of the ketogenic diet (KD), has suggested that Lamotrigine used alongside significantly reduced the efficacy of the diet (van der LouW et al., 2015). The study was performed by van der LouW and colleagues at Erasmus University Hospital Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam and published in the journal Seizure on 21 September 2015. The study included children aged 0-18 yrs. who were started on KD between 2008-2014 and were on the diet for at least 3 months...

Epilepsies originating from the posterior cortex, namely the parieto-occipital lobes and the occipital border of the temporal lobe, account for the minority of focal epilepsies (Boesebeck et al., 2002), therefore, epilepsy surgery in the posterior cortex has been less extensively examined in the literature, relative to that for temporal or frontal lobe epilepsies. Most studies emphasize the difficulty in delineating the precise localisation of a posterior epileptogenic zone (EZ: the site of origin and of primary propagation of ictal discharges; Bancaud et al., 1970; Kahane et al., 2006) because of rather non-specific clinical seizure patterns (Bancaud,...

The Personal View is published on the 40th anniversary of the Glasgow Coma Scale's introduction in a 1974 Lancet article*. Since this seminal publication, the Glasgow Coma Scale has provided a practical method for bedside assessment of impairment of conscious level, the clinical hallmark of acute brain injury. The paper's lead author is Professor Graham Teasdale, of the University of Glasgow, UK, one of the authors of the original paper introducing the scale. Professor Teasdale and colleagues examine the extent to which the original aspirations of the authors have been fulfilled, address some myths and misapprehensions about the scale,...

Aim The aim of this study was to examine whether vigabatrin treatment had caused visual field defects (VFDs) in children of school age who had received the drug in infancy. Method In total, 35 children (14 males, 21 females; median age 11y, SD 3.4y, range 8–23y) were examined by static Humphrey perimetry, Goldmann kinetic perimetry, or Octopus perimetry. The aetiologies of infantile spasms identified were tuberous sclerosis (n=10), other symptomatic causes (n=3), or cryptogenic (n=22). Results Typical vigabatrin-attributed VFDs were found in 11 out of 32 (34%) children: in one out of 11 children...