Effect of levetiracetam in acute encephalitis with refractory, repetitive partial seizures during acute and chronic phase

Japanese guidelines for treatment of pediatric status epilepticus - 2023

The updated definition of status epilepticus (SE) by the International League Against Epilepsy in 2015 included two critical time points (t1: at which the seizure should be regarded as an "abnormally prolonged seizure"; and t2: beyond which the ongoing seizure activity can pose risk of long-term consequences) to aid in diagnosis and management and highlights the importance of early treatment of SE more clearly than ever before. Although Japan has witnessed an increasing number of pre-hospital drug treatment as well as first- and second-line treatments, clinical issues have emerged regarding which drugs are appropriate. To address these clinical concerns, a revised version of the "Japanese Guidelines for the Treatment of Pediatric Status Epilepticus 2023" (GL2023) was published. For pre-hospital treatment, buccal midazolam is recommended. For in-hospital treatment, if an intravenous route is unobtainable, buccal midazolam is also recommended. If an intravenous route can be obtained, intravenous benzodiazepines such as midazolam, lorazepam, and diazepam are recommended. However, the rates of seizure cessation were reported to be the same among the three drugs, but respiratory depression was less frequent with lorazepam than with diazepam. For established SE, phenytoin/fosphenytoin and phenobarbital can be used for pediatric SE, and levetiracetam can be used in only adults in Japan. Coma therapy is recommended for refractory SE, with no recommended treatment for super-refractory SE. GL2023 lacks adequate recommendations for the treatment of nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE). Although electrographic seizure and electrographic SE may lead to brain damages, it remains unclear whether treatment of NCSE improves outcomes in children. We plan to address this issue in an upcoming edition of the guideline.

Febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome in childhood: A clinical review and practical approach

Febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES) of unknown aetiology is an extremely rare but severe epilepsy syndrome. It is characterized by a nonspecific febrile infection a few days before the onset of super-refractory status epilepticus, followed by refractory epilepsy and high morbidity in previously healthy children and young adults. To date, FIRES is incurable and irreversible. The clinical course may depend more on time than on therapy, while the outcome may depend more on the clinical spectrum than on therapy. Based on a literature search, retrospective data analysis, and personal observations, this review aimed to explore the clinical spectrum and therapeutic options for FIRES to improve outcomes by optimized and more standardized diagnosis and therapy, including adapted immunotherapy and a less aggressive approach to manage seizures, as seizure-freeness is difficult to achieve and, therefore, not the primary goal for cryptogenic FIRES.

Seizure burden and neuropsychological outcomes of new-onset refractory status epilepticus: Systematic review

Background

Long-term sequelae of the new onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE) include the development of epilepsy, cognitive deficits, and behavioral disturbances. The prevalence of these complications has been previously highlighted in case reports and case series: however, their full scope has not been comprehensively assessed.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of the literature (PROSPERO ID CRD42022361142) regarding neurological and functional outcomes of NORSE at 30 days or longer following discharge from the hospital. A systematic review protocol was developed using guidance from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).

Results

Of the 1,602 records for unique publications, 33 reports on adults and 52 reports on children met our inclusion criteria. They contained the description of 280 adults and 587 children of whom only 75.7 and 85% of patients, respectively had data on long-term follow-up. The mean age of adult and pediatric patients was 34.3 and 7.9 years, respectively; and the longest duration of follow up were 11 and 20 years, respectively. Seizure outcomes received major attention and were highlighted for 93.4 and 96.6% of the adult and pediatric NORSE patients, respectively. Seizures remained medically refractory in 41.1% of adults and 57.7% of children, while seizure freedom was achieved in only 26 and 23.3% of these patients, respectively. The long-term cognitive outcome data was provided for just 10.4% of the adult patients. In contrast, cognitive health data were supplied for 68.9% of the described children of whom 31.9% were moderately or severely disabled. Long-term functional outcomes assessed with various standardized scales were reported in 62.2 and 25.5% of the adults and children, respectively with majority of patients not being able to return to a pre-morbid level of functioning. New onset psychiatric disorders were reported in 3.3% of adults and 11.2% of children recovering from NORSE.

Conclusion

These findings concur with previous observations that the majority of adult and pediatric patients continue to experience recurrent seizures and suffer from refractory epilepsy. Moderate to severe cognitive disability, loss of functional independence, and psychiatric disorders represent a hallmark of chronic NORSE signifying the major public health importance of this disorder.

Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute encephalopathy in childhood

The cardinal symptom of acute encephalopathy is impairment of consciousness of acute onset during the course of an infectious disease, with duration and severity meeting defined criteria. Acute encephalopathy consists of multiple syndromes such as acute necrotizing encephalopathy, acute encephalopathy with biphasic seizures and late reduced diffusion and clinically mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with reversible splenial lesion. Among these syndromes, there are both similarities and differences. In 2016, the Japanese Society of Child Neurology published 'Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Acute Encephalopathy in Childhood', which made recommendations and comments on the general aspects of acute encephalopathy in the first half, and on individual syndromes in the latter half. Since the guidelines were written in Japanese, this review article describes extracts from the recommendations and comments in English, in order to introduce the essence of the guidelines to international clinicians and researchers.

Neurocritical care and target immunotherapy for febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome

Febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES) is an intractable neurological disease characterized by an unexplained refractory status epilepticus triggered by febrile infection. A Consensus definition of FIRES was proposed in 2018, and its clinical features and prognosis are gradually being clarified. However, the development of effective treatments has been hindered as the etiology of this rare disease is as yet unelucidated. The basic approach to the management of FIRES, like other forms of epilepsy, is based on the control of seizures, however seizures are extremely intractable and require intravenous administration of large doses of anticonvulsants, mainly barbiturates. This treatment strategy produces various complications including respiratory depression and drug hypersensitivity syndrome, which make it more difficult to control seizures. Consequently, it is crucial to predict these events and to formulate a planned treatment strategy. As well, it is important to grow out of conventional treatment strategies that rely on only anticonvulsants, and alternative therapies are gradually being developed. One such example is the adoption of a ketogenic diet which may lead to reduced convulsions as well as improve intellectual prognosis. Further, overproduction of inflammatory cytokines in the central nervous system has been shown to be strongly related to the pathology of FIRES which has led to attempts at immunomodulation therapy including anti-cytokine therapy.

Febrile Infection-Related Epilepsy Syndrome (FIRES), a possible cause of super-refractory status epilepticus. Case report

Introducción: El estado epiléptico superrefractario (EES) es una patología con importante morbimortalidad que afecta el ambiente neuronal según el tipo y duración de las crisis.Presentación del caso: Se presenta el caso de un escolar con estado epiléptico superrefractario y crisis multifocales. Se descartaron causas metabólicas, estructurales, infecciosas, toxicológicas y autoinmunes y se utilizaron diferentes manejos anticonvulsivantes sin respuesta, lográndose control de las crisis 6 semanas después del ingreso a UCI. Se realizó un seguimiento de 12 años, periodo en el que el paciente presentó múltiples recaídas del estado epiléptico asociadas a la presencia de epilepsia refractaria con múltiples tipos de crisis, en su mayoría vegetativas; además se dio involución cognitiva.Discusión: Esta forma de estado epiléptico corresponde al síndrome de estado epiléptico facilitado por fiebre (FIRES), entidad de posible origen inmunológico conocida por ser refractaria al tratamiento agudo y al manejo cró- nico de la epilepsia y que se presenta como secuela. Su evolución no se ha descrito a largo plazo y por tanto no hay consenso sobre el manejo en la fase crónica.Conclusión: Es importante considerar esta etiología en estado epiléptico superrefractario para utilizar de forma temprana diferentes estrategias terapéuticas, como la dieta cetogénica, que permitan, por un lado, controlar su condición crítica y las crisis epilépticas a largo plazo y, por el otro, mejorar el pronóstico cognitivo, logrando así un impacto en la calidad de vida.

Clinical characteristics and electroencephalogram analysis of levetiracetam in the treatment of children with febrile seizure recurrence

Febrile seizure is the most common neurologic disorder in infants and children. This study aimed to elaborate safe and effective therapy for preventing FS recurrence by levetiracetam (LEV). A prospective study was performed in two groups of children, the no treatment group (n=51, 24.1±9.0 months) and the LEV treatment group (n=45, 23.3±8.9 months). The findings demonstrated that a significant difference (P<0.01) was observed between the no treatment group 51.0% (26/51) and LEV treatment group 15.5% (7/45) in terms of FS recurrence after 50 weeks. FS recurrence/fever episode was 12.4% (12/97) in the LEV treatment group and 51.8% (57/110) in the no treatment group. Furthermore, LEV administration significantly improved (P<0.001) epileptiform + nonspecific EEG abnormalities (17.8%; 8/45), as compared with the no treatment group (68.6%; 35/51). In conclusion, LEV could function as an effective therapeutic agent for the prevention of FS recurrence and reducing the frequency of fever episodes. Furthermore, LEV administration significantly improved nonspecific EEG abnormalities, which may be used as a clinical monitoring index for LEV treatment in patients with FS.