PURPOSE:Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs) are complex diseases, requiring specialized expertise from neurologists and dedicated facilities for diagnosis and treatment. Building networks among specialized centres can improve the overall quality of care for patients with DEEs. This study aimed to evaluate the approach to DEEs in different epilepsy centres in Lombardy, Northern Italy. METHODS:A panel of experts from Lombardy's epilepsy centres met in 2023 with the aim of sharing their experiences about DEEs management, specifically Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. This collaborative initiative aimed not only to compare current practices, but also to explore the potential for building stronger networks among specialized centres to improve care pathways for patients with DEEs. Following the meeting, a survey was distributed to the participants to gather quantitative data on diagnostic and treatment approaches, as well as to identify the unmet needs concerning patients with DEEs. RESULTS:The expert panel identified several key issues in the management of DEEs: a) organizational barriers often hinder the implementation of best practices in the clinical management of DEEs; b) due to legislative limitations, the ability to prescribe specific new medications for rare diseases is granted excusively to a subset of referral centres (67%); c) the majority of the involved centres (70%) must refer DEEs patients to other facilities for epilepsy surgery; d) the management of adult patients with DEEs, especially those with psychiatric comorbidities, remains a major challenge. CONCLUSIONS:Establishing networks between different referral centres can improve and enhance DEE patients' management.

Background: Purified cannabidiol (CBD) was administered to highly refractory patients with Dravet (DS) or Lennox–Gastaut (LGS) syndromes in an ongoing expanded access program (EAP). Herein, we report interim results on CBD safety and seizure outcomes in patients treated for a 12-month period. Material and Methods: Thirty centers were enrolled from December 2018 to December 2019 within the open-label prospective EAP up to a maximum of 25 mg/kg per day. Adverse effects and liver function tests were assessed after 2 weeks; 1, 3, and 6 months of treatment; and periodically thereafter. Seizure endpoints were the percentage of patients with ≥50 and 100% reduction in seizures compared to baseline. Results: A total of 93 patients were enrolled and included in the safety analysis. Eighty-two patients [27 (32.9%) DS, 55 (67.1%) LGS] with at least 3 months of treatment have been included in the effectiveness analysis; median previously failed antiseizure medications was eight. Pediatric and adult patients were uniformly represented in the cohort. At 3-month follow-up, compared to the 28-day baseline period, the percentage of patients with at least a 50% reduction in seizure frequency was 40.2% (plus 1.2% seizure-free). Retention rate was similar according to diagnosis, while we found an increased number of patients remaining under treatment in the adult group. CBD was mostly coadministered with valproic acid (62.2%) and clobazam (41.5%). In the safety dataset, 29 (31.2%) dropped out: reasons were lack of efficacy [16 (17.2%)] and adverse events (AEs) [12 (12.9%)], and one met withdrawal criteria (1.1%). Most reported AEs were somnolence (22.6%) and diarrhea (11.9%), followed by transaminase elevation and loss of appetite. Conclusions: CBD is associated with improved seizure control also in a considerable proportion of highly refractory patients with DS and LGS independently from clobazam use. Overall, CBD safety and effectiveness are not dose-related in this cohort.

Hemispheric surgery is an effective and cost-effective option for hemispheric epilepsy. Data specifically focusing on very early infancy are scant. In our study, we report the results of hemispheric surgery in children under three years of age, along with clinical, neuroradiological and EEG features, from two Italian epilepsy surgery centres. After reviewing our epilepsy surgery databases (2008-2018), we identified 14 patients (seven males) submitted to hemispheric surgery, under three years (range: 2-29 months), with a follow-up of at least 12 months. No deaths occurred, and surgical complications were observed in 3/17 procedures. At final follow-up visit (mean: 30.8 months; range: 12-90), 10/14 patients (71.4%) achieved Engel Class I (eight Class 1A, one Class 1B, and one Class 1C). Antiepileptic drugs were completely discontinued in three and reduced in eight, thus a significant decrease in drug regimen after surgery was achieved in 11/14 patients (78.6%). Before surgery, severe developmental delay was present in 10 patients, moderate in two and mild in two. At the last follow-up visit, the degree of developmental delay changed from severe to moderate in five patients, remained unchanged in six cases (four severe and two moderate), and changed from mild to moderate in two following surgery. In many cases, hemispheric surgery in children under three years is effective in achieving seizure freedom or reducing seizure frequency, with the possibility of simplifying complex drug regimens. Moreover, it appears to be a safe and well tolerated procedure, leading to improvement in cognition and posture.

Pharmaceutically purified oral cannabidiol (CBD) has been recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency as treatment of seizures associated with Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), which are severe and difficult-to-treat developmental and epileptic encephalopathies with onset in early childhood.This review will critically review the pharmacokinetic properties of CBD, the interactions with antiseizure and non-antiseizure medications, and the main tolerability and safety issues to provide guidance for its use in everyday practice.CBD is metabolized in the liver and can influence the activity of enzymes involved in drug metabolism. The best characterized drug-drug interaction is between CBD and clobazam. The most common adverse events include somnolence, gastrointestinal discomfort, and increase in serum transaminases. High-grade purified CBD oral solution represents an effective therapeutic option in patients with DS and LGS. The findings cannot be extrapolated to other cannabis-based products, synthetic cannabinoids for medicinal use and non-medicinal cannabis and CBD derivatives.

The JC virus ( JCV) is well known for causing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a potentially fatal, demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). PML almost exclusively affects immunosuppressed patients, whereas it is rare in immunocompetent subjects. Recently, a new clinical entity, named JCV encephalopathy ( JCVE), has been observed. We present the case of a 62-year-old male, with no identifiable immunosuppression, who developed aphasia and progressive reduction in consciousness. He had a six months insidious history of psychiatric symptoms. He passed away 3 weeks after onset of symptoms. On admission, brain MRI demonstrated a prominent grey matter involvement. Serological tests and cerebrospinal fluid analysis were all negative for infectious diseases. A whole-body CT scan was negative for cancer. Several EEGs showed a diffuse anterior theta activity with bilateral parietal epileptic periodic discharges. A second MRI imaging showed a more prominent non-enhancing grey and white matter involvement, compatible with PML. Finally, CSFPCR for JCV was performed and resulted positive. To the best of our knowledge, our report is the second case of JCVE described so far. Similarly to our patient, the previous case developed symptoms consistent with a CNS disease with progressive clinical course. MRI abnormalities were initially restricted to the hemispheric grey matter and only later extended to the subcortical regions. Our case suggests that JCV infection should be considered even in immunocompetent patients presenting with unexplained cortical lesions and rapidly progressive encephalopathy. Matteo Ciocca1, Marta Pirovano1, Monica Lodi2, Antonino Romeo2, Vincenza Fetoni1

Objective: To give a comprehensive overview of the phenotypic and genetic spectrum of STXBP1 encephalopathy (STXBP1-E) by systematically reviewing newly diagnosed and previously reported patients. Methods: We recruited newly diagnosed patients with STXBP1 mutations through an international network of clinicians and geneticists. Furthermore, we performed a systematic literature search to review the phenotypes of all previously reported patients. Results: We describe the phenotypic features of 147 patients with STXBP1-E including 45 previously unreported patients with 33 novel STXBP1 mutations. All patients have intellectual disability (ID), which is mostly severe to profound (88%). Ninety-five percent of patients have epilepsy. While one-third of patients presented with Ohtahara syndrome (21%) or West syndrome (9.5%), the majority has a nonsyndromic early-onset epilepsy and encephalopathy (53%) with epileptic spasms or tonic seizures as main seizure type. We found no correlation between severity of seizures and severity of ID or between mutation type and seizure characteristics or cognitive outcome. Neurologic comorbidities including autistic features and movement disorders are frequent. We also report 2 previously unreported adult patients with prominent extrapyramidal features. Conclusion: De novo STXBP1 mutations are among the most frequent causes of epilepsy and encephalopathy. Most patients have severe to profound ID with little correlation among seizure onset, seizure severity, and the degree of ID. Accordingly, we hypothesize that seizure severity and ID present 2 independent dimensions of the STXBP1-E phenotype. STXBP1-E may be conceptualized as a complex neurodevelopmental disorder rather than a primary epileptic encephalopathy.

OBJECTIVE:To give a comprehensive overview of the phenotypic and genetic spectrum of STXBP1 encephalopathy (STXBP1-E) by systematically reviewing newly diagnosed and previously reported patients.METHODS:We recruited newly diagnosed patients with STXBP1 mutations through an international network of clinicians and geneticists. Furthermore, we performed a systematic literature search to review the phenotypes of all previously reported patients.RESULTS:We describe the phenotypic features of 147 patients with STXBP1-E including 45 previously unreported patients with 33 novel STXBP1 mutations. All patients have intellectual disability (ID), which is mostly severe to profound (88%). Ninety-five percent of patients have epilepsy. While one-third of patients presented with Ohtahara syndrome (21%) or West syndrome (9.5%), the majority has a nonsyndromic early-onset epilepsy and encephalopathy (53%) with epileptic spasms or tonic seizures as main seizure type. We found no correlation between severity of seizures and severity of ID or between mutation type and seizure characteristics or cognitive outcome. Neurologic comorbidities including autistic features and movement disorders are frequent. We also report 2 previously unreported adult patients with prominent extrapyramidal features.CONCLUSION:De novo STXBP1 mutations are among the most frequent causes of epilepsy and encephalopathy. Most patients have severe to profound ID with little correlation among seizure onset, seizure severity, and the degree of ID. Accordingly, we hypothesize that seizure severity and ID present 2 independent dimensions of the STXBP1-E phenotype. STXBP1-E may be conceptualized as a complex neurodevelopmental disorder rather than a primary epileptic encephalopathy.

Cri du chat Syndrome (CdCS; Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man [OMIM] #123450) is a genetic disorder, which is the result of a deletion on the short arm of Chromosome 5. The incidence of CdCS ranges from 1:15,000 to 1:50,000 live-born infants and the main clinical features include a high-pitched monochromatic (catlike) cry, microcephaly, a large nasal bridge, epicanthal folds, micrognathia, abnormal dermatoglyphics, and severe intellectual disability. Although infrequent, minor or major malformations of the cardiac, neurological, and/or renal systems, preauricular tags, syndactyly, hypospadias, and/or cryptorchidism may also be present.

BACKGROUND: Hypochondroplasia is a rare skeletal dysplasia characterized by disproportionately short stature, lumbar lordosis, and limited extension of the elbow caused by mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene that plays a role in controlling nervous system development. Hypochondroplasia with FGFR3 mutation associated with bilateral medial temporal lobe anomalies and focal epilepsy was previously reported in several patients. PATIENT: We report clinical, electroclinical, and neuroradiological findings of one patient affected by hypochondroplasia. RESULTS: Clinical diagnosis was confirmed by molecular analysis of the FGFR3 gene, which showed a N540 K mutation. The patient had normal psychomotor development and showed early-onset focal seizures with left temporal localization on interictal and ictal electroencephalograph. The seizures were well controlled, and the patient has been seizure-free since infancy. Magnetic resonance imaging showed abnormal anteriorly posteriorly infolding in the hippocampus and abnormally oriented parahippocampus sulci, and additional cortical rim dysplasia with gray-white matter junction blurring in the hippocampus. CONCLUSIONS: The present case of hypochondroplasia and FGFR3 mutation in Asn540Lys associated with characteristic abnormalities involving bilaterally medial temporal lobe structures, probable hippocampal cortex focal dysplasia, and early onset of focal epilepsy underscores the possibility of a rare syndrome.

Background and objectives: Pallister-Killian syndrome (PKS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by a tissue-limited mosaic supernumerary isochromosome 12p. Typical facial dysmorphisms, pigmentary abnormalities, and some major malformations are frequently present. Neurological manifestations include mental retardation, hypotonia, and seizures. Epilepsy incidence ranged from 39 to 59% in a previously reported series. No specific clinical and EEG phenotype has ever been reported to describe seizure features, electroclinical patterns, and response to therapy in PKS.Methods: This was a multicentre study conducted on 13 Italian children with PKS, as diagnosed by clinical phenotype and confirmed in cultured fibroblasts. All patients underwent several polygraphic video-EEG recordings and brain magnetic resonance imaging.Results and conclusions: All the patients presented with epilepsy and seizures that started at a mean age of 19 months. In six cases, epilepsy started with epileptic spasms (ES) combined with focal seizures in another case. In four cases, seizures were focal, and this was followed by ES in two patients. In only two cases, epilepsy started with myoclonic seizures, and spasms were never observed. The study provides further evidence that epilepsy is a part of the phenotype of PKS, although a specific clinical and EEG pattern could not be identified. Our cases show how ES with late- or first-year onset is the most common type of seizure. Despite a variable prognosis in terms of response to therapy, a significant proportion of patients achieved good seizure control. (C) 2012 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND Sodium channel alpha 1 subunit gene, SCN1A, is the gene encoding the neuronal voltage-gated sodium channel alpha 1 subunit (Na(v)1.1) and is mutated in different forms of epilepsy. Mutations in this gene were observed in more than 70% of patients with severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI) and were also found in different types of infantile epileptic encephalopathy. OBJECTIVE To search for disease-causing mutations in SCN1A in patients with cryptogenic epileptic syndromes (ie, syndromes with an unknown cause). DESIGN Clinical characterization and molecular genetic analysis of a cohort of patients. SETTING University hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and molecular biology laboratories. PATIENTS Sixty unrelated patients with cryptogenic epileptic syndromes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Samples of DNA were analyzed for mutations and for large heterozygous deletions encompassing the SCN1A gene. A search for microdeletions in the SCN1A gene was also performed in the subset of patients with SMEI/SMEI-borderland who had negative results at the point mutation screening. RESULTS No large deletions at the SCN1A locus were found in any of the patients analyzed. In contrast, 13 different point mutations were identified in 12 patients: 10 with SMEI, 1 with generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus, and 1 with cryptogenic focal epilepsy. An additional search for SCN1A intragenic microdeletions in the remaining patients with SMEI/SMEI-borderland and no point mutations was also negative. CONCLUSIONS These results confirm the role of the SCN1A gene in different types of epilepsy, including cryptogenic epileptic syndromes. However, large deletions encompassing SCN1A were not common disease-causing rearrangements in this group of epilepsies.

Purpose: We describe nine consecutive patients with diagnosis of benign focal epileptic seizures of adolescence (BFSA), who experienced an ictal sensation of impending danger.Materials and methods: We collected nine BFSA patients after a comprehensive clinical and laboratory investigation, video-EEG analysis and neuroimaging study.Results: All patients displayed a distinct etectro-ctinical pattern of seizures characterized by a peculiar subjective feeling of impending danger coming from behind, followed by a coordinated behavior of "head-turning" toward the danger. This feeling was described in all patients as "a shadow behind me on one side" or "something or someone behind me". All of our patients explained that, at the beginning of their seizures, they felt an early warning of a high-risk situation. Electrophysiologic data favored a frontal origin of these seizures.Conclusion: We have described for the first time a distinct electro-clinical pattern of seizures in the context of BFSA, characterized by the ictal feeling of early warning of a high-risk situation, which we thought to term "sixth sense seizure". In the tight of current neuro-anatomical knowledge, seizure discharge within anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) structures is the likely explanation for this situation. Further studies are needed to establish if this is an electroclinical variant of BFSA or a new distinct epileptic syndrome. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PURPOSE:Kabuki syndrome (KS) is a rare dysmorphogenic disorder that is characterized by multiple congenital abnormalities with central nervous system involvement. The diagnosis is clinical and a variable degree of mental retardation is always present. Epilepsy is frequently reported, but a typical electroclinical pattern has not been described. We describe the electroclinical features of eight KS non-Japanese patients with epilepsy.METHODS:We analysed seizure characteristics and pattern EEG and clinical outcomes in eight KS patients.RESULTS:All patients presented with focal seizures. A frontal epileptic status was present in two cases. We highlighted the fact that, during evolution, seven patients shared the same interictal EEG pattern, which was characterized by isolated or repetitive biphasic spikes or sharp waves, followed by a slow wave of medium and high voltage, predominantly localised in the fronto-central regions. The natural course of seizures is favourable.CONCLUSIONS:Our results showed a peculiar homogeneous electroclinical pattern in KS, characterized by focal seizures more frequently origin in fronto-central area which demonstrated that seizures are mostly focal in type and that a fronto-central origin is more frequently evident.