T2DM患者记忆相关脑区代谢状况的变化研究

目的分析2型糖尿病患者记忆相关脑区代谢状况变化,为临床治疗提供一定的理论依据。方法对我院住院的以记忆进行性减退的2型糖尿病患者（实验组,70例）和单纯记忆力减退患者（对照组,70例）给予简易精神状态检查（MMSE）、蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA）、修订韦氏记忆量表中文版（RWMS-RC）等检测,比较2组患者的记忆减退情况;并对患者左侧海马、额叶及丘脑等行磁共振质子波谱分析,采集分析N-乙酰天门冬氨酸（NAA）、胆碱复合物（Cho）、肌醇（mI）、肌酸复合物（Cr,Cr2）及谷氨酸复合物（Clx）的共振峰峰下面积进行比较,以了解相关脑区代谢状况的变化。结果 （1）与对照组相比,实验组MMSE、MoCA评分,以及MoCA中瞬时记忆及短时记忆评分水平明显降低（P〈0.01-0.005）。（2）与对照组相比,实验组左侧海马Cr、mI峰下面积及左侧额叶Cr2峰下面积明显增大（P〈0.05-0.01）;左侧丘脑NAA、Cr2、Cho峰下面积明显降低（P〈0.05）。结论 2型糖尿病不但能造成患者记忆功能减退,而且影响海马、额叶和丘脑等记忆相关脑区代谢状况。     

磁共振波谱分析对轻微型肝性脑病患者的诊断价值

目的研究磁共振波谱分析(MRS)对轻微型肝性脑病(MHE)患者的诊断价值。方法应用3.0MR机对26例MHE患者进行扣带回和额叶的单体素点分辨自旋回波波谱序列扫描。计算N-乙酰天门冬氨酸(NAA)、肌酐(Cr)、胆碱(Cho)、肌醇(mI)和谷氨酰胺复合物(Glx)的峰下面积,计算NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr、mI/Cr、Glx/Cr的值,并与正常对照组比较。结果与正常对照组相比,MHE组扣带回和额叶的Cho/Cr、mI/Cr显著降低(P<0.01～0.001),Glx/Cr值显著升高(均P<0.005),NAA/Cr值差异无统计学意义(均P>0.05)。结论MHE患者MRS检查显示扣带回和额叶Cho、mI水平降低,Glx水平升高,MRS对MHE的诊断有显著价值。     

精神分裂症患者脑部质子波谱特点及其与临床症状的关系

目的 探讨精神分裂症患者前额叶、丘脑氧质子磁共振波谱(proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy,1H-MRS)的特点及其与临床症状的关系.方法 本研究纳入7 d内未使用抗精神病药物及影响脑内乙酰胆碱神经递质药物的32例精神分裂症患者和36名正常对照,入组24 h内采用多体素1H-MRS检测受试者前额叶和丘脑生化代谢物N-乙酰基天门冬氨酸(NAA)、胆碱复合物(Cho)与肌酸复合物(Cr),并计算NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr和NAA/(Cho+Cr)的比值.患者组同时进行阳性和阴性症状量表(PANSS)评估.结果 患者组左侧前额叶及左右侧丘脑NAA/Cr值[分别为(1.30±0.39)、(1.53±0.36)和(1.47±0.35)]均低于对照组[分别为(1.74±0.24)、(1.73±0.25)和(1.74±0.31)],差异具有统计学意义(P＜0.05);患者组左侧前额叶NAA/(Cho+cr)值[(0.63±0.12)]低于对照组[(0.74±0.21)],差异具有统计学意义(P＜0.05).患者组左侧前额叶NAA/Cr值与PANSS总分及阴性症状分呈负相关(r=-0.48,P＜0.01;r=-0.54,P＜0.01),右侧丘脑NAA/Cr值与阴性症状呈负相关(r=-0.44,P＜0.01).结论 精神分裂症患者前额叶及丘脑存在神经元功能和(或)结构异常,左侧前额叶NAA/Cr值可能作为反映精神分裂症患者阴性症状严重程度的参考指标.     

双相障碍Ⅱ型患者前额叶白质、豆状核磁共振波谱分析

目的 探讨双相障碍Ⅱ型患者前额叶白质、豆状核的氢质子磁共振波谱(1H-MRS)特征. 方法 以自2012年9月至2013年4月在中山大学附属第三医院住院的双相障碍Ⅱ型患者30例为患者组,同期20例健康志愿者为对照组,采用多体素磁共振波谱技术检测2组研究对象前额叶白质、豆状核的代谢物质含量,包括N-乙酰天门冬氨酸(NAA)、胆碱化合物(Cho)、肌酸(Cr)、肌醇(mI),并计算NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr、mI/Cr、NAA/Cho、NAA/(Cho+Cr)的比值. 结果 患者组右侧前额叶白质NAA、Cho、mI绝对含量及NAA/Cr比值和对照组相比明显下降,差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.05);左侧前额叶白质NAA绝对含量及NAA/Cr、NAA/Cho、NAA/(Cho+Cr)比值与对照组相比明显下降,差异均有统计学意义(P＜0.05);右侧豆状核NAA、Cho绝对含量和对照组相比明显下降,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05). 结论 双相障碍Ⅱ型患者存在双侧前额叶白质纤维受损和神经胶质细胞功能异常,以及右侧豆状核神经元缺失或功能异常.     

难治性抑郁症患者海马代谢的磁共振质子波谱研究

目的 探讨难治性抑郁症患者双侧海马磁共振质子波谱(1H-MRS)的代谢特点.方法 运用1H-MRS成像系统检测16例难治性抑郁症患者(患者组)和16名健康对照者(对照组)双侧海马的N-乙酰天门冬氨酸(NAA)、胆碱复合物(Cho)、肌醇(mI)及肌酸(Cr)4种代谢产物,分别计算双侧NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr及mI/Cr.采用配对t检验、独立样本t检验及偏相关分析进行统计处理.结果 对照组左侧海马NAA/Cr(1.43±0.19),明显高于右侧(1.21±0.10),P＜0.01.患者组双侧海马NAA/Cr的差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05),右侧海马NAA/Cr(1.44±0.31),明显高于对照组(1.21±0.10),P＜0.01.未发现患者组海马的任何代谢指标与病程及汉密尔顿抑郁量表(17项)评分的相关性(P＞0.05).结论 难治性抑郁症患者右侧海马代谢增强,双侧海马NAA/Cr不对称性消失.     

丁苯酞对轻度认知功能损害患者的治疗作用72机制

目的探讨dl-3-正丁基苯酞软胶囊对轻度认知功能损害患者的治疗作用及初步机制.方法选择60例轻度认知功能损害患者,随机分为治疗组和对照组,每组30例,治疗组给予dl-3-正丁基苯酞软胶囊口服,200mg/次,3次/d;治疗组给予曲克芦丁片口服,180mg/次,3次/d;同时2组均口服脑复康片,1.2/次,3次/d,疗程均为2个月.治疗前后分别对2组患者进行简易智能精神状态量表(mini-mental state examination scale,MMSE)评分,并利用氢质子磁共振波谱(1H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy,1H-MRS)的方法,分别检测左侧颞叶海马区域NAA、mI及Cho物质代谢变化.同时对2组患者治疗前后MMSE评分和NAA、mI及Cho代谢物含量进行相关分析.结果与对照组及同组治疗前(MMSE评分24.87±0.73,NAA/Cr 1.224±0.228)比较,治疗组治疗后MMSE评分28.94±0.89显著增加,左侧颞叶海马区域NAA/Cr1.537±0.315显著升高;mI/Cr和Cho/Cr在各组间均无明显差异.各组患者MMSE评分与NAA/Cr均呈正相关(r=0.709、0.682、0.657、0.673),与mI/Cr及Cho/Cr无明显相关关系.结论 dl-3-正丁基苯酞软胶囊可改善轻度认知功能损害患者认知功能,其机制可能与改善脑内代谢有关.     

慢性失眠障碍患者认知功能与核磁共振波谱成像的研究

目的 探讨慢性失眠障碍(Chronic insomnia disorder,CID)患者的认知功能和海马氢质子磁共振波谱成像(Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy,¹H-MRS)特点。方法 收集自2017年1月1日-2020年1月1日就诊于新疆医科大学第五附属医院睡眠障碍门诊的60例CID患者,对照组选取同期门诊体检的60例无睡眠障碍的健康人群; 采用匹兹堡睡眠质量指数量表(Pittsburgh sleep quality index,PSQI)评估2组研究对象的睡眠质量; 分别采用简易智力状态检查量表(MMSE)和蒙特利尔认知评估量表(MoCA)评估2组研究对象的总体认知功能; 应用¹H-MRS技术检测2组双侧海马N-乙酰天门冬氨酸(NAA)、胆碱复合物(Cho)和肌酸(Cr)3种代谢物水平,并计算NAA/Cr和Cho/Cr比值。结果 CID组患者PSQI评分显著高于对照组(P<0.01); CID组MMSE评分与对照组比较无显著差异(P>0.05); CID组MoCA评分显著低于对照组(P<0.01),其中注意力、瞬时记忆、延时记忆以及视空间执行功能评分均显著低于对照组(P<0.01、0.01、0.01、0.05); CID组右侧海马NAA/Cr比值低于对照组(1.76±0.32 vs.2.06±0.48)(t=2.278,P=0.027); CID组双侧海马NAA/Cr比值无明显差异(t=1.425,P=0.168); C1D组患者PSQI总分及病程与MoCA评分呈负相关(r=-0.428,-0.355,P=0.006),与右侧海马NAA/Cr比值呈负相关(r=-0.352,-0.308,P=0.019)。结论 CID患者失眠严重程度及病程与MoCA评分、右侧海马NAA/Cr 比值有关,可能导致患者轻度认知功能障碍(MCI)及右侧海马可能存在神经元受损。     

急性脑梗死后血管性认知障碍的磁共振波谱研究

目的应用质子磁共振波谱(1 H-MRS)技术,探讨急性脑梗死后血管性认知障碍(VCI)患者的颅内物质代谢变化与认知损害的关系。方法对86例脑梗死患者(脑梗死组)及21名健康对照者(对照组)进行简易精神状态检查量表(MMSE)和蒙特利尔认知评分量表(MoCA)评分,并计算其视空间及执行功能评分。根据认知评分结果,将脑梗死组分为脑梗死后认知功能正常组(NCI)、脑梗死后VCI非痴呆组(VCIND)、脑梗死后痴呆组。对脑梗死组及健康对照进行1 H-MRS检查,测定右额叶、左颞叶、左丘脑及顶枕叶交界处N-乙酰天冬氨酸(NAA)/肌酸(Cr)、肌醇(mI)/Cr及胆碱复合物(Cho)/Cr比值,并分析脑梗死组物质代谢比值与认知评分(MoCA评分、视空间及执行功能)间的相关性。结果 (1)与对照组(左颞叶及左丘脑NAA/Cr 1.53±0.08、1.52±0.10)相比,VCIND组左颞叶及左丘脑NAA/Cr(1.46±0.07、1.47±0.07)降低(P=0.001、P=0.006);与VCIND组右额叶1.46±0.10比较,梗死后痴呆组右额叶、左颞叶及左丘脑NAA/Cr(1.38±0.14、1.39±0.06、1.42±0.09)降低(分别P<0.001、P<0.001、P=0.003)。对照组及NCI组间的各区域物质代谢比值无统计学差异(均P>0.05)。(2)所有脑梗死患者中,除右额叶Cho/Cr外,余各感兴趣区物质代谢比值与MoCA评分间均相关,其中以左颞叶、左丘脑NAA/Cr值与MoCA评分的相关性为著(分别r=0.566,P<0.001;r=0.485,P<0.001);除右额叶、丘脑及顶枕叶交界处Cho/Cr外,余各物质代谢比值与视空间及执行功能评分间相关,其中亦以左颞叶及左丘脑NAA/Cr值的相关性为著(分别NAA/Cr为r=0.591,P<0.001;r=0.491,P<0.001)。结论左丘脑及左颞叶代谢异常可能为VCI患者认知损害的早期关键环节之一,随着VCI病变进展可能整个皮质及皮质下环路区域都将出现代谢异常。     

首发未用药精神分裂症患者脑内神经生化代谢物与认知功能的相关性

目的 探讨首发未经治疗的精神分裂症患者用药前脑内神经生化代谢物质的特点及其与 认知功能之间的相关性。方法 纳入首发未治精神分裂症患者33例（男性19例、女性14例）作为研究组, 对照组为符合纳入标准的健康成人33人（男性14名、女性19名）。采用单体素氢质子磁共振波谱（1H-MRS） 检测左侧前额叶和丘脑N-乙酰基天门冬氨酸（NAA）、胆碱复合物（Cho）、肌酸复合物（Cr）与磷酸化肌酸 复合物（Cr2）的水平,并计算NAA/Cr 值、Cho/Cr 值、Cr2/Cr 值、NAA/Cho 值。选取剑桥神经心理自动化成 套测试（CANTAB）中的图形识别记忆（PRM）延迟再识别正确率评定其认知功能。结果 研究组左侧前 额叶Cr2/Cr 值（1.15±0.87）高于对照组（0.72±0.46）,差异有统计学意义（P ＜ 0.05）。左侧前额叶NAA/Cr 值、Cho/Cr 值、NAA/Cho 值以及丘脑NAA/Cr 值、Cho/Cr 值、Cr2/Cr 值、NAA/Cho 值与对照组比较差异均 无统计学意义（P ＞ 0.05）。CANTAB 认知测试中PRM 正确率,研究组为（82.81±15.44）% 低于对照组的 （95.20±6.26）%,差异有统计学意义（P ＜ 0.05）。Pearson 相关分析发现,研究组左侧前额叶Cho/Cr 值与 PRM 正确率呈负相关（r=-0.424,P ＜ 0.05）,NAA/Cho 值与PRM 正确率呈正相关（r=0.473,P ＜ 0.01）。研 究组左侧前额叶NAA/Cr 值、Cho/Cr 值与PANSS 总分呈正相关（r=0.538、0.450,P ＜ 0.01）。结论 首发 未治精神分裂症患者用药前存在认知功能缺陷,其左侧前额叶部分神经生化代谢物质神经元细胞膜磷 酸化水平在用药前就出现了异常。提示首发未治精神分裂症患者用药前的认知功能损害与前额叶神经 生化代谢功能异常存在一定的相关性。     

重复经颅磁刺激对酒依赖患者记忆功能及海马代谢的影响

目的 探讨重复经颅磁刺激(rTMS)对酒依赖患者戒断期记忆功能的影响及与海马代谢物水平变化的关系.方法 将38例男性戒断期酒依赖患者按随机数字表分为rTMS组和伪rTMS组,rTMS组给予1 Hz刺激4周,刺激部位为右侧背外侧前额叶皮质(DLPFC);伪rTMS组给予无效刺激.治疗前后分别评估言语记忆、视觉记忆,并采用氢质子磁共振波谱(1 H-MRS)检测双侧海马部位代谢物N-乙酰基天门冬氨酸(NAA)、胆碱化合物(Cho)和肌酸复合物(Cr).结果 (1)rTMS组治疗后言语记忆和视觉记忆评分较治疗前提高(P<0.05),而伪rTMS组治疗后记忆评分较治疗前差异无统计学意义(P>0.05).治疗后,rTMS组仅视觉记忆评分优于伪rTMS组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.01),而言语记忆未见明显改善(P>0.05).(2)rTMS组治疗后双侧海马NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr较治疗前升高(P<0.01),而伪rTMS组治疗前后双侧海马NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr的差异无统计学意义(P>0.05).治疗后,rTMS组双侧海马NAA/Cr、Cho/Cr高于伪rTMS组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.01).(3)左侧海马NAA/Cr、右侧海马Cho/Cr治疗后与治疗前的差值分别与言语记忆、视觉记忆评分呈正相关(P<0.01).结论 rTMS可以改善戒断期酒依赖患者的记忆功能,其可能机制与升高海马NAA/Cr和Cho/Cr有关.     

Diagnostic Difficulties and Treatment Implications

Summary: Differentiation between types of epileptic seizures has been aided in recent years by the introduction of intensive neurodiagnostic techniques and the development of increasingly detailed classification systems. Paradoxically, these developments have not simplified the task of matching the appropriate antiepileptic drug to a particular seizure type. It is reasonable to assume that anticonvulsant drugs will have different effects on different types of seizures, but faulty, circular reasoning can enter the picture if one also assumes that responses of seizures to different drugs signify different seizure types. There are several examples of differential diagnoses that can fall prey to this problem, including the diagnosis between partial seizures with secondary generalization and generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the diagnosis between complex partial seizures and absence seizures with automatisms, among others. Considerations of etiology in future classification systems can further complicate the problem: should one then choose an anticonvulsant drug on the basis of individual seizure type or on the basis of the type of epilepsy? Ramifications of this issue extend even to the drug approval process. Official sanction is not given for use of a drug for a seizure type not included in the original efficacy studies, even if later scientific evidence shows that seizure type to be related to a type that is included. New trials must be undertaken. These problems arise from how we choose to classify seizures.     

Cognitive Dysfunction Associated with Antiepileptic Drug Therapy

Summary: Epilepsy is frequently associated with cognitive dysfunction. However, the reasons for this correlation are unclear. Possible influential factors include patient age; duration, frequency, etiology, and type of seizures; hereditary factors; psychosocial issues; and antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy. Whereas many of these factors are beyond the physician's control, AED therapy is one element that can be addressed in treatment decisions by recognizing the potential cognitive effects of particular AEDs. For example, phenobarbital impairs memory and concentration; phenytoin affects attention, problem solving ability, and performance of visuomotor tasks. In contrast, carbamazepine may affect concentration, while valproate would appear to have minimal effects on cognition. Moreover, cognitive effects of AEDs are amplified with coadministration of multiple anticonvulsants (polytherapy). A review of studies on the cognitive effects of monotherapy with AEDs, as opposed to those of polytherapy, provides evidence that drug-related cognitive dysfunction can be reversed if patients are switched to a simpler therapeutic regimen. Future research should be directed toward developing reliable measures for assessing and monitoring cognition, and understanding the particular cognitive side effects of each AED. Physicians also need to revise their opinions about which side effects are "tolerable" for epileptic patients.     

Hepatic Considerations in the Use of Antiepileptic Drugs

Summary: Virtually all of the major antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) can cause hepatotoxicity, although fatal hepatic reactions are rare. The mechanisms, incidences, and risk profiles for such reactions differ from drug to drug. With carbamazepine and phenytoin, hepatotoxicity may be due to drug hypersensitivity. Although the profiles of patients at risk have not been well-defined for these two antiepileptic drugs, it would appear from reports in the literature that older adolescents and adults are at higher risk than children of developing serious or fatal hepatotoxicity. Once hepatotoxicity develops, mortality rates are 10–38% with phenytoin and 25% for carbamazepine. The risk profile for valproate fatal hepatotoxicity has been more clearly defined. Those at primary risk of fatal hepatic dysfunction are children under the age of 2 years who are receiving multiple anticonvulsants and also have significant medical problems in addition to severe epilepsy. The risk is considerably lower for patients over the age of 2 years on valproate monotherapy. In contrast to the risk profile with other AEDs, adults receiving valproate as monotherapy have the lowest risk of hepatotoxicity. Fatal hepatic dysfunction coincident with valproate may be the result of aberrant drug metabolism. Concomitant use of AEDs that induce microsomal P450 enzymes (e.g., phenytoin and phenobarbital) may enhance the production of a toxic metabolite, and hence the greater risk of hepatotoxicity with polypharmacy.     

Vascular Malformations and Epilepsy: Clinical Considerations and Basic Mechanisms

Summary: Vascular malformations (VMs) are associated with epilepsy. The natural history of the various VMs, clinical presentation, and tendency to provoke epilepsy determine treatment strategies. Investigations have probed the mechanisms of epileptogenesis associated with these lesions. Electrophysiologic changes are associated with epileptogenic cortex adjacent to VMs. Putative pathophysiologic mechanisms of epileptogenesis include neuronal cell loss, glial proliferation and abnormal glial physiology, altered neurotransmitter levels, free radical formation, and aberrant second messenger physiology.     

Carbamazepine Efficacy in Adults With Partial and Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

Summary: Carbamazepine and phenytoin are drugs of choice in initial monotherapy for adult partial and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures. These designations reflect the results of the Veterans Administration Epilepsy Cooperative Study Group of 1985. An earlier comparative study of carbamazepine and phenytoin by Ramsay and associates found both drugs equally effective in controlling new-onset seizures. Among the advantages of carbamazepine is that it causes relatively few cognitive and dysmorphic side effects. Its disadvantages are its unavailability in parenteral formulation and its metabolic autoinduction. The latter must be compensated for by planned dosage increases to maintain therapeutic plasma steady-state levels during the first 2 or 3 months of treatment. Carbamazepine is judged a drug of choice in the treatment of these secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and the drug of choice in children, adolescents, and women susceptible to the dysmorphic side effects associated with other anticonvulsant agents.     

Etiologic and Preventive Aspects of Epilepsy in the Child–Bridging the Gap Between Laboratory and Clinic

Summary: Four broad categories of basic phenomena are pertinent to developing ways to prevent epilepsy. These include mechanisms of epileptogenesis, ictal initiation and temporary entrainment by the seizure discharge of normally functioning brain, seizure propagation, and control mechanisms that function both to restrain the cascade of epileptic events culminating in a seizure and to arrest the epileptic event and restore the interictal state. In newborns and children, hypoxia-ischemia is a major factor leading to epileptogenesis, and several schemes are proposed to classify, quantify, and prevent hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Control mechanisms must be better understood in order to develop prophylactic recommendations for epilepsy, and an experimental model of "kindling antagonism" may increase our understanding of these. Programs of prevention of seizures in children will evolve only if basic researchers and clinicians work productively together to develop an adequate understanding of factors important in epileptogenesis and antiepileptogenic control mechanisms.     

Epilepsy and anomalies of neuronal migration: MRI and clinical aspects

Neuronal migration disorders are the result of disturbed brain development. In such disorders, neurons are abnormally located. In diagnosing these conditions, magnetic resonance imaging is superior to any other imaging technique. This enables us to improve our knowledge of the clinical correlates of neuronal migration. With reference to migrational disorder, a retrospective study of all 303 patients with epileptic seizures referred for magnetic resonance imaging during a 3-year period was performed, 13 patients (aged 12-41, mean age 27) were identified. They represent 4.3% of the entire study group. Of the patients with known epilepsy, 6.7% and of the mentally retarded, 13.7% had migrational disorders. Four patients had schizencephaly as the dominant finding, one was classified as hemimegalencephaly, 2 had isolated heterotopias, and 6 had localized pachy- and/or poly-microgyria. The clinical pictures are complex. Ectopias of grey matter are recognised foci of epilepsy, but from an epileptological and a clinical viewpoint little attention has been given to these disorders. The present study shows that malmigration is not rare in epilepsy patients, especially not in the mentally retarded.     

Carbamazepine Efficacy and Utilization in Children

Summary: Carbamazepine is effective for preventing partial and generalized tonic-clonic seizures in children. Although absence epilepsies are more common in children than adults, an estimated 80% of children with epilepsy have seizure types or epilepsies that are potentially responsive to carbamazepine. The differential diagnosis of ictal staring is an especially important issue in children because absence and atypical absence seizures are more prevalent in children than adults. Age-related pharmacokinetic differences and drug interactions are major considerations in children. On average, children have higher clearance rates of carbamazepine, shorter half-lives, and higher ratios of carbamazepine-10, 11-epoxide to carbamazepine than adults. In addition, children with severe epilepsy are more likely to require multiple-drug therapy, which can lead to complex drug interactions. When carbamazepine is administered along with valproate, drug protein binding interactions can cause intermittent side effects.     

Predisposing and Causative Factors in Childhood Epilepsy

Summary: We review information from large studies of defined populations, examining the role of known factors and especially of prenatal and perinatal factors in contributing to nonfebrile seizure disorders of early childhood. We depend especially, but not exclusively, on the recently completed analyses from the Collaborative Perinatal Project of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, the NCPP. About 4% of children in the NCPP who had at least one non-febrile nonsymptomatic seizure by the age of 7 years had a previous seizure during acute neurologic illness, such as meningitis or during the acute illness after trauma. Many such seizures should potentially be preventable. Of children with seizures, 10% had had a neonatal seizure and 13% had had a febrile seizure. Among the hundreds of prenatal and perinatal factors explored as predictors of childhood seizure disorders, the principal predictors identified were congenital malformations of the fetus, cerebral and noncerebral; family history of certain neurologic disorders; and neonatal seizures. In agreement with the British National Child Development Study, labor and delivery factors in the NCPP appeared to contribute very little to childhood seizure disorders. Maldevelopment, rather than damage at birth to an initially intact nervous system, appeared to be the more common mechanism. Most seizure disorders of early childhood remained unexplained by the large set of prenatal and perinatal characteristics examined.     

Anticonvulsant Drugs and Cognitive Function: A Review of the Literature

Summary: Alterations of cognitive function are separate from disturbances of behavior seen in association with epilepsy. The nature of the cognitive disability may to a certain extent depend on the seizure type. Partial seizures, mainly derived from a temporal lobe focus, impair memory tasks, while generalized seizures seem to have more effect on attentional abilities. A number of studies, reviewed in this paper, suggest that anticonvulsant drugs further impair cognitive function. Maximal impairments are seen in patients receiving polytherapy: rationalization of polytherapy improves cognitive abilities. Studies in children and adults have allowed differentiation of the effects of various commonly used antiepileptic agents. Maximal cognitive deficits are seen with. phenytoin, while phenobarbital and sodium valproate induce moderate disturbances, and carbamazepine seems relatively free from such toxicity. Further research is needed on the interrelationship between types of seizure disorders, types of anticonvulsant medications, and cognitive function.