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Query: UMLS:C0149958 (complex partial seizures)
 2,563 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Recent advances in the ability to study brain anatomy and function and attempts to link these findings with human behavior have captured the attention of the legal system. This had led to the increasing use of the "neurological defense" to support a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. This article explores the history of the insanity defense and explores the role of the medical expert witnesses in integrating clinical and laboratory findings, eg, computed tomographic scans, magnetic resonance scans, and single-photon emission computed tomographic scans. Three cases involving murder and brain dysfunction are discussed: the first case involves a subarachnoid hemorrhage resulting in visual perceptual and memory impairment; the second case, a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; and the third case, the controverted diagnosis of complex partial seizures in a serial killer.
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PMID:Murder, insanity, and medical expert witnesses. 159 96

To understand further relationships of the interictal electroencephalogram to the aura in complex partial seizures (CPS), we studied the interictal EEG and aura in 144 patients with CPS. The ages of the patients studied ranged from 31 to 80 years (average 52.44 years). The duration of seizures ranged from 1 to 60 years (average 15.69 years). Seventy patients (49%) reported auras which were classified according to the guidelines recommended by the Commission of the International League Against Epilepsy. Statistical analysis revealed no relationship between presence, laterality, or localization of EEG abnormality and the number or type of aura. The results emphasize that more factors than electrophysiologic localization alone participate in the determination of aura in CPS. Our data support the position that aura has, at most, a limited relationship to lateralization or localization of interictal cerebral dysfunction in CPS.
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PMID:Correlative study of interictal electroencephalogram and aura in complex partial seizures. 230 11

A 40-year-old man developed an acute state of manic exultation when given carbamazepine for complex partial seizures. The symptoms subsided when carbamazepine was discontinued, but recurred when the drug was inadvertently given again. This observation does not accord with previous evidence of a beneficial psychotropic effect for carbamazepine in some epileptic patients and of some effect in the treatment of mania. Carbamazepine has been shown to have complex actions on multiple neurotransmitter and neuromodulator systems, and it is possible that paradoxical effects of this nature may occur in susceptible individuals, as has been found with other sedative and anticonvulsant agents. The patient recalled brief euphoric periods after seizures, which may suggest that carbamazepine exacerbated or prolonged preexisting cerebral dysfunction.
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PMID:Manic state with carbamazepine therapy of seizures. 379 91

Three men with epilepsy (age range, 38-62) who exhibited brief episodes of violent behavior during the postictal period are described. Disease duration ranged from 27 to 44 years. Patients had both complex partial seizures and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures, which were refractory to antiepileptic drugs. Postictal aggression occurred shortly after a seizure and lasted 5-30 minutes. The patients displayed physically and verbally aggressive behavior toward others, but regained consciousness promptly and showed regret afterward. Interictal EEGs revealed temporal spikes, SPECT showed hypoperfusion in the temporal and frontal areas in two patients, and neuropsychological examination revealed poor frontal lobe function in two patients. Characteristics of our cases are consistent with subacute postictal aggression (SPA) reported previously. Epilepsy of prolonged duration and brain dysfunction involving a broad area including the temporal and frontal lobes may be associated with the occurrence of subacute postictal aggression.
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PMID:Subacute postictal aggression in patients with epilepsy. 1741 43

Giorgio de Chirico is one of the most admired and at the same time most discredited painters of the 20th century. As the 'inventor' of metaphysical painting, he has been considered as a precursor of Surrealism, while his later works have been harshly criticized as representative of the painter's decay. The mystery and dream-like atmosphere irradiating from his works has led to speculations that de Chirico may have taken his inspiration from migraine attacks or complex partial seizures. However, a careful study of his life and his own writings suggests that while de Chirico probably suffered from recurrent malaria, he had neither migraines nor epilepsy. De Chirico also denied that dreams were a major source of his inspiration, but he insisted on his fertile inner imagery, which allowed him to put in a new, poetic, often conflictual perspective, places and objects, which he had actually seen (Hofgarten arcades, Italian piazzas, statues, antique ruins, etc.) in Athens, Munich, Florence, Turin, Ferrare, and other towns. De Chirico was accused of self-plagiarism because he commonly used his former themes in new works, sometimes in what may look like servile copies of his early paintings. This 'replay syndrome' is quite unique in modern art, which has been dominated by the obligation, dogma and cult of newness and renewal. At odds with most of his contemporaries, Andy Warhol suggested that de Chirico made such recurrent series because 'he liked it'. Indeed, as a lifelong admirer of Nietzsche, de Chirico may just have applied the philosopher's concept of the 'eternal return', in which one is supposed to live and accomplish tasks that one would want to repeat forever. In that way, de Chirico's work should not be considered as that of a genius who fell into decadence, but may appear as a continuous, organized process to which organic brain dysfunction never contributed.
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PMID:The last myth of Giorgio De Chirico: neurological art. 2037 20

Consciousness is essential to normal human life. In epileptic seizures consciousness is often transiently lost, which makes it impossible for the individual to experience or respond. These effects have huge consequences for safety, productivity, emotional health, and quality of life. To prevent impaired consciousness in epilepsy, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms that lead to brain dysfunction during seizures. Normally the consciousness system-a specialised set of cortical-subcortical structures-maintains alertness, attention, and awareness. Advances in neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and prospective behavioural testing have shed light on how epileptic seizures disrupt the consciousness system. Diverse seizure types, including absence, generalised tonic-clonic, and complex partial seizures, converge on the same set of anatomical structures through different mechanisms to disrupt consciousness. Understanding of these mechanisms could lead to improved treatment strategies to prevent impairment of consciousness and improve the quality of life of people with epilepsy.
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PMID:Impaired consciousness in epilepsy. 2289 35