Idiopathic focal epilepsies: the “lost tribe” Pal, Deb K.; Ferrie, Colin; Addis, Laura ...
Epileptic disorders,
September 2016, 2016-Sep-01, 20160901, Letnik:
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Journal Article
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The term idiopathic focal epilepsies of childhood (IFE) is not formally recognised by the ILAE in its 2010 revision (Berg et al., ), nor are its members and boundaries precisely delineated. The IFEs ...are amongst the most commonly encountered epilepsy syndromes affecting children. They are fascinating disorders that hold many “treats” for both clinicians and researchers. For example, the IFEs pose many of the most interesting questions central to epileptology: how are functional brain networks involved in the manifestation of epilepsy? What are the shared mechanisms of comorbidity between epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders? How do focal EEG discharges impact cognitive functioning? What explains the age‐related expression of these syndromes? Why are EEG discharges and seizures so tightly locked to slow‐wave sleep?
In the last few decades, the clinical symptomatology and the respective courses of many IFEs have been described, although they are still not widely appreciated beyond the specialist community. Most neurologists would recognise the core syndromes of IFE to comprise: benign epilepsy of childhood with centro‐temporal spikes or Rolandic epilepsy (BECTS/RE); Panayiotopoulos syndrome; and the idiopathic occipital epilepsies (Gastaut and photosensitive types). The Landau‐Kleffner syndrome and the related (idiopathic) epilepsy with continuous spikes and waves in sleep (CSWS or ESES) are also often included, both as a consequence of the shared morphology of the interictal discharges and their potential evolution from core syndromes, for example, CSWS from BECTS. Atypical benign focal epilepsy of childhood also has shared electro‐clinical features warranting inclusion. In addition, a number of less well‐defined syndromes of IFE have been proposed, including benign childhood seizures with affective symptoms, benign childhood epilepsy with parietal spikes, benign childhood seizures with frontal or midline spikes, and benign focal seizures of adolescence.
The term “benign” is often used in connection with the IFEs and is increasingly being challenged. Certainly most of these disorders are not associated with the devastating cognitive and behavioural problems seen with early childhood epileptic encephalopathies, such as West or Dravet syndromes. However, it is clear that specific, and sometimes persistent, neuropsychological deficits in attention, language and literacy accompany many of the IFEs that, when multiplied by the large numbers affected, make up a significant public health problem. Understanding the nature, distribution, evolution, risk and management of these is an important area of current research.
A corollary to such questions regarding comorbidities is the role of focal interictal spikes and their enduring impact on cognitive functioning. What explains the paradox that epilepsies characterised by abundant interictal epileptiform abnormalities are often associated with very few clinical seizures? This is an exciting area in both clinical and experimental arenas and will eventually have important implications for clinical management of the whole child, taking into account not just seizures, but also adaptive functioning and quality of life. For several decades, we have accepted an evidence‐free approach to using or not using antiepileptic drugs in IFEs. There is huge international variation and only a handful of studies examining neurocognitive outcomes. Clearly, this is a situation ready for an overhaul in practice.
Fundamental to understanding treatment is knowledge of aetiology. In recent years, there have been several significant discoveries in IFEs from studies of copy number variation, exome sequencing, and linkage that prompt reconsideration of the “unknown cause” classification and strongly suggest a genetic aetiology. The IFE are strongly age‐related, both with regards to age of seizure onset and remission. Does this time window solely relate to a similar age‐related gene expression, or are there epigenetic factors involved that might also explain low observed twin concordance? The genetic (and epigenetic) models for different IFEs, their comorbidities, and their similarities to other neurodevelopmental disorders deserve investigation in the coming years. In so doing, we will probably learn much about normal brain functioning. This is because these disorders, perhaps more than any other human brain disease, are disorders of functional brain systems (even though these functional networks may not yet be fully defined).
In June 2012, an international group of clinical and basic science researchers met in London under the auspices of the Waterloo Foundation to discuss and debate these issues in relation to IFEs. This Waterloo Foundation Symposium on the Idiopathic Focal Epilepsies: Phenotype to Genotype witnessed presentations that explored the clinical phenomenology, phenotypes and endophenotypes, and genetic approaches to investigation of these disorders. In parallel, the impact of these epilepsies on children and their families was reviewed. The papers in this supplement are based upon these presentations. They represent an updated state‐of‐the‐art thinking on the topics explored.
The symposium led to the formation of international working groups under the umbrella of “Luke's Idiopathic Focal Epilepsy Project” to investigate various aspects of the idiopathic focal epilepsies including: semiology and classification, genetics, cognition, sleep, high‐frequency oscillations, and parental resources (see www.childhood-epilepsy.org). The next sponsored international workshop, in June 2014, was on randomised controlled trials in IFEs and overnight learning outcome measures.
We report two siblings with infantile onset seizures, severe developmental delay and spastic paraplegia, in whom whole-genome sequencing revealed compound heterozygous mutations in the AP4S1 gene, ...encoding the σ subunit of the adaptor protein complex 4 (AP-4). The effect of the predicted loss-of-function variants (p.Gln46Profs*9 and p.Arg97*) was further investigated in a patient's fibroblast cell line. We show that the premature stop mutations in AP4S1 result in a reduction of all AP-4 subunits and loss of AP-4 complex assembly. Recruitment of the AP-4 accessory protein tepsin, to the membrane was also abolished. In retrospect, the clinical phenotype in the family is consistent with previous reports of the AP-4 deficiency syndrome. Our study reports the second family with mutations in AP4S1 and describes the first two patients with loss of AP4S1 and seizures. We further discuss seizure phenotypes in reported patients, highlighting that seizures are part of the clinical manifestation of the AP-4 deficiency syndrome. We also hypothesize that endosomal trafficking is a common theme between heritable spastic paraplegia and some inherited epilepsies.
Pathogenic variants in PRRT2, encoding the proline-rich transmembrane protein 2, have been associated with an evolving spectrum of paroxysmal neurologic disorders. Based on a cohort of children with ...PRRT2-related infantile epilepsy, this study aimed at delineating the broad clinical spectrum of PRRT2-associated phenotypes in these children and their relatives. Only a few recent larger cohort studies are on record and findings from single reports were not confirmed so far. We collected detailed genetic and phenotypic data of 40 previously unreported patients from 36 families. All patients had benign infantile epilepsy and harbored pathogenic variants in PRRT2 (core cohort). Clinical data of 62 family members were included, comprising a cohort of 102 individuals (extended cohort) with PRRT2-associated neurological disease. Additional phenotypes in the cohort of patients with benign sporadic and familial infantile epilepsy consist of movement disorders with paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia in six patients, infantile-onset movement disorders in 2 of 40 individuals, and episodic ataxia after mild head trauma in one girl with bi-allelic variants in PRRT2. The same girl displayed a focal cortical dysplasia upon brain imaging. Familial hemiplegic migraine and migraine with aura were reported in nine families. A single individual developed epilepsy with continuous spikes and waves during sleep. In addition to known variants, we report the novel variant c.843G>T, p.(Trp281Cys) that co-segregated with benign infantile epilepsy and migraine in one family. Our study highlights the variability of clinical presentations of patients harboring pathogenic PRRT2 variants and expands the associated phenotypic spectrum.
Objective
Biallelic variants in RARS1, encoding the cytoplasmic tRNA synthetase for arginine (ArgRS), cause a hypomyelinating leukodystrophy. This study aimed to investigate clinical, ...neuroradiological and genetic features of patients with RARS1‐related disease, and to identify possible genotype‐phenotype relationships.
Methods
We performed a multinational cross‐sectional survey among 20 patients with biallelic RARS1 variants identified by next‐generation sequencing techniques. Clinical data, brain MRI findings and genetic results were analyzed. Additionally, ArgRS activity was measured in fibroblasts of four patients, and translation of long and short ArgRS isoforms was quantified by western blot.
Results
Clinical presentation ranged from severe (onset in the first 3 months, usually with refractory epilepsy and early brain atrophy), to intermediate (onset in the first year with nystagmus and spasticity), and mild (onset around or after 12 months with minimal cognitive impairment and preserved independent walking). The most frequent RARS1 variant, c.5A>G, led to mild or intermediate phenotypes, whereas truncating variants and variants affecting amino acids close to the ArgRS active centre led to severe phenotypes. ArgRS activity was significantly reduced in three patients with intermediate and severe phenotypes; in a fourth patient with intermediate to severe presentation, we measured normal ArgRS activity, but found translation mainly of the short instead of the long ArgRS isoform.
Interpretation
Variants in RARS1 impair ArgRS activity and do not only lead to a classic hypomyelination presentation with nystagmus and spasticity, but to a wide spectrum, ranging from severe, early‐onset epileptic encephalopathy with brain atrophy to mild disease with relatively preserved myelination.
Summary Background GRM4 encoding the group III metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 (mGluR4), is located on the chromosomal segment 6p21.3 where tentative susceptibility loci for Juvenile Myoclonic ...Epilepsy (JME) and Photoparoxysmal Response (PPR) have been mapped. The present candidate gene study examined if variation in GRM4 confers susceptibility to IGE. Patients and methods The case-control association sample included 564 unrelated IGE patients and 733 population controls of German descent. Association analysis was carried out for 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering the genomic GRM4 sequence for all IGE patients as well as for two common IGE subsyndromes Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME, n = 215) and Childhood Absence Epilepsy (CAE, n = 175). Sequence analysis was performed in 85 IGE and 42 PPR cases and 44 controls. Results Nominally significant asssociations were detected between IGE and seven GRM4 SNPs (with P -values ranging from 0.037 to 0.0036), between JME and five SNPs ( P = 0.042–0.0106), and between CAE and two SNPs ( P = 0.0466–0.0021). Four novel SNPs were identified by sequence analysis. Conclusions Our association findings support the hypothesis that GRM4 sequence variants might confer low-risk effects to the etiology of IGE. A minor pathogenetic contribution of the examined variants is possible. These exploratory findings warrant further replication analyses.
Summary
Purpose: Absences are characterized by an abrupt onset and end of generalized 3–4 Hz spike and wave discharges (GSWs), accompanied by unresponsiveness. Although previous ...electroencephalography–functional magnetic resonance imaging (EEG–fMRI) studies showed that thalamus, default mode areas, and caudate nuclei are involved in absence seizures, the contribution of these regions throughout the ictal evolution of absences remains unclear. Furthermore, animal models provide evidence that absences are initiated by a cortical focus with a secondary involvement of the thalamus. The aim of this study was to investigate dynamic changes during absences.
Methods: Seventeen absences from nine patients with absence epilepsy and classical pattern of 3–4 Hz GSWs during EEG‐fMRI recording were included in the study. The absences were studied in a sliding window analysis, providing a temporal sequence of blood oxygen–level dependent (BOLD) response maps.
Results: Thalamic activation was found in 16 absences (94%), deactivation in default mode areas in 15 (88%), deactivation of the caudate nuclei in 10 (59%), and cortical activation in patient‐specific areas in 10 (59%) of the absences. Cortical activations and deactivations in default mode areas and caudate nucleus occurred significantly earlier than thalamic responses.
Discussion: Like a fingerprint, patient‐specific BOLD signal changes were remarkably consistent in space and time across different absences of one patient but were quite different from patient to patient, despite having similar EEG pattern and clinical semiology. Early frontal activations could support the cortical focus theory, but with an addition: This early activation is patient specific.
Epilepsy is a frequent feature of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), but little is known about genetic differences between NDDs with and without epilepsy. We analyzed de novo variants (DNVs) in ...6,753 parent-offspring trios ascertained to have different NDDs. In the subset of 1,942 individuals with NDDs with epilepsy, we identified 33 genes with a significant excess of DNVs, of which SNAP25 and GABRB2 had previously only limited evidence of disease association. Joint analysis of all individuals with NDDs also implicated CACNA1E as a novel disease-associated gene. Comparing NDDs with and without epilepsy, we found missense DNVs, DNVs in specific genes, age of recruitment, and severity of intellectual disability to be associated with epilepsy. We further demonstrate the extent to which our results affect current genetic testing as well as treatment, emphasizing the benefit of accurate genetic diagnosis in NDDs with epilepsy.
Hashimoto encephalopathy is characterized by severe neuropsychiatric findings, including psychosis, confusion, seizures, stupor, stroke-like episodes, tremor, and myoclonus. The combination of ...findings is variable. Hashimoto encephalopathy constitutes an important differential diagnosis in patients with encephalopathy. The triad of encephalopathy, corresponding electroencephalographic slowing, and increased protein content in cerebrospinal fluid should prompt testing of anti-thyroid antibodies in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. Elevated antibody levels support the diagnosis. We describe a 15-year-old girl with a fluctuating course of Hashimoto encephalopathy. Electroencephalograms revealed no specific alterations, but widespread slowing of the background activity occurred during two episodes of fluctuating encephalopathy. Cortical edema was indicated by cranial magnetic resonance imaging during the first episode of encephalopathy, in the context of cerebral seizures. Laboratory findings were in accordance with Hashimoto encephalopathy, which was steroid-responsive.
Objective
Dravet syndrome (DS) is a rare but severe drug‐resistant epilepsy. Before the approval of fenfluramine (FFA) for the treatment of seizures in DS, patients in Germany could receive treatment ...under a compassionate use program (CUP).
Methods
We conducted a multicenter, retrospective, observational study to describe the efficacy, tolerability, and retention of FFA within the CUP. Patients received add‐on therapy with oral FFA gradually titrated to a target dose between .13 and .7 mg/kg/day.
Results
Overall, 78 patients with DS (median age = 8.0 years, range = 2.1–46.0; 53% female, median concomitant antiseizure medications ASMs = 3) were treated with FFA for a median duration of 255.5 days (range = 31–572). Responder rates (a ≥50% reduction; n = 78) and seizure‐freedom rates at 3 months were 68% and 14% for total seizures, respectively, and 67% and 23% for generalized tonic–clonic seizures. Responder rates were consistent at 6 and 12 months (n = 66 and n = 43, respectively). Median seizure days per month significantly decreased from 10.0 (range = .5–30) to 3.0 (range = 0–30) in the 3‐month period before and after FFA treatment (p < .001). Significantly fewer patients reported at least one episode of status epilepticus (28% vs. 14% patients before and after FFA initiation, p = .005). During FFA treatment, 35 (45%) patients were able to discontinue a concomitant ASM. At the last follow‐up date, 66 (85%) patients remained on treatment with FFA. The most common adverse events were somnolence (36%), decreased appetite (22%), and ataxia (8%). Forty‐eight (62%) patients were reported as having a meaningful global clinical improvement.
Significance
In a large cohort of patients, FFA demonstrated efficacy across a range of outcomes including clinically significant reductions in convulsive seizures, and was well tolerated, providing valuable information for real‐world practice.
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