In 15 people with temporal lobe epilepsy, the most common form of epilepsy in children and adults, researchers were able to predict seizures at least 30 minutes before they started. These new findings could significantly improve the quality of life of those affected in the future and enable new therapeutic approaches.
By continuously measuring the brain waves via electrodes at certain points within the brain (intracranial electroencephalography, EEG), altered brain activities that preceded an epileptic seizure could be determined in 15 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Recognizing these harbingers is an essential prerequisite for being able to intervene in good time and to get the brain activities back on the right track. The seizures were detected at least 45 minutes beforehand in 13 of the 15 participants, and up to 35 minutes beforehand in the other two.
“The ability to predict seizures is a major advance in the field of epilepsy research,” said Prof. Dr. Sandipan Pati of the Department of Neurology at McGovern Medical School at University Hospital Houston. He and his team viewed 1,800 hours of EEG recordings and published the results in the journal “NEJM Evidence”. “This is significant as it may allow us to develop more effective therapies for epilepsy that could significantly improve the quality of life for patients suffering from the disease.”
Surgery can help many people with epilepsy. But when the seizures affect larger areas of the brain, it’s not an option. Early detection of seizures and targeted modification of brain activity could be an alternative solution for these patients, says Pati.
Which: DOI 10.1056/Evidoa2200187