Kore Liow

University of Hawai'i System · Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience

Introduction Neurologic circadian influences, including sleep/wake transitions, processes (e.g., hormonal variation), and behavioral patterns (e.g., consumption of food and oral medications), may affect seizure patterns. Specific circadian patterns of seizures have been reported depending on type, onset location, and severity; however, data on patt...

Worldwide, about 65 million people are estimated to have epilepsy. Epidemiologic studies are necessary to define the full public health burden of epilepsy; to set public health and health care priorities; to provide information needed for prevention, early detection, and treatment; to identify education and service needs; and to promote effective h...

The risk of dose-dependent seizures is a safety issue with bupropion hydrochloride. To evaluate the presence of specific electroencephalographic (EEG) waveforms, 210 adult subjects taking stable doses of bupropion hydrochloride were recruited to undergo 2 EEGs in a prospective, single-center cohort study. The occurrence of spike waves, sharp waves,...

Using amalgamated Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from nine states in 2006, this study examined the differences in demographics, health conditions, health behaviors, and quality of life among persons with active epilepsy (PWAE) and persons with a lifetime prevalence of epilepsy (PWLE), compared with persons without epilepsy...

An estimated 24% of patients referred to epilepsy clinics actually have nonepileptic seizures. Various procedures have been used to precipitate nonepileptic events. The goal of this study was to use hypnosis in seizure provocation and differentiation between epileptic and nonepileptic seizure events. Fifty study participants were enrolled from the...

Epilepsy is a condition in which consistency of treatment is paramount to successful management and for most patients, effective seizure control can be achieved. Given the severe consequences of even a single breakthrough seizure, patients should be afforded every opportunity to succeed on their given regimens. Some experts argue that global policy...

Obesity and lack of physical activity are an increasing problem. In addition to common barriers to physical activity, people with epilepsy also face fear of exercise-induced seizures, medication side effects, and, often, confusing advice regarding the safety of exercise. To explore barriers faced by people with epilepsy, we mailed a survey to 412 a...

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) is a psychological testing tool used to measure psychological and personality constructs. The MMPI-2 has proven helpful in identifying individuals with nonepileptic events/nonepileptic seizures. However, the MMPI-2 has had some updates that enhanced its original scales. The aim of this arti...

Concerns have been raised about the safety of switching from a branded antiepileptic drug (AED) to a generic AED. The goal of the study described here was to understand patients' experiences with generic AEDs in the Midwestern United States. A one-page, six-item survey was mailed to 356 patients to determine patients' awareness of the existence and...

To determine if applying chilled solution to exposed cerebral cortex can reduce interictal epileptiform activities in patients during surgery. Electrocorticography was used to record the epileptiform activity of 12 patients (ages 18-53) undergoing cortical mapping and resection surgery. Interictal spikes were counted at baseline and compared with s...

As the elderly represent the most rapidly growing population in the United States, it is critical that physicians are capable of managing their chronic illnesses, including epilepsy. Optimal treatment of epilepsy integrates an understanding of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), yet limited information is available to guide HRQOL issues among t...

As individuals directly impacted by their experience of epilepsy and others' responses to it, epilepsy patients' opinions about education and awareness issues are needed. A community-based participatory approach was used to develop a survey of public and patient attitudes and perceptions about epilepsy, which was administered to persons with epilep...

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonly used by patients, yet there have been few studies regarding the scope of CAM and patients with epilepsy. This study assessed usage and perceptions of CAM by epilepsy patients in the Midwest. A survey of 25 items was administered to adult patients with epilepsy, with data collected from 228 pa...

Although physical inactivity can be considered in pandemic proportions, people with epilepsy face additional barriers to being physically active. People with epilepsy tend to avoid exercise as many believe the activity may induce a seizure, many fear having a seizure in public, and many are concerned about their safety (e.g. if they fall). Moreover...

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological illness that affects 2.7 million people in the United States, but remains poorly understood. Care providers may not recognize their patients' need for epilepsy information, contributing to treatment barriers, such as stigmatization and poor patient-provider communication. The current study piloted a survey of epil...

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is recognized to be commonly used by patients, yet there have been few studies regarding the scope of CAM use by patients with epilepsy. This study assessed usage and perceptions of CAM by patients with epilepsy in the midwest of the United States. A 25-item survey was administered to adult patients with...

Very little is known about the attitudes and behaviors of minorities with epilepsy. This pilot study explored access to health care, help-seeking behaviors, and adherence to treatment among African-American females with epilepsy. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with 10 African-American female adults. Findings indicate four major obstacles to...

Hypothalamic hamartomas (HHs) have been associated with uncontrolled seizures, and aggressive therapy including surgery is often recommended. However, some patients, particularly those with other findings associated with Pallister-Hall syndrome (PHS), have a more benign course. Thirty-seven of 40 PHS patients and 16 of 16 patients with isolated HH...

To characterize the cognitive deficits in children with gelastic seizures and hypothalamic hamartoma and investigate the relationship of seizure severity to cognitive abilities. Eight children with gelastic seizures and hypothalamic hamartoma completed a neuropsychological battery of standardized and age-normed tests, including the Woodcock-Johnson...

Objective: To characterize the cognitive deficits in children with gelastic seizures and hypothalamic hamartoma and investigate the relationship of seizure severity to cognitive abilities. Methods: Eight children with gelastic seizures and hypothalamic hamartoma completed a neuropsychological battery of standardized and age-normed tests, including...

To assess aggression and psychiatric comorbidity in a sample of children with hypothalamic hamartomas and gelastic seizures and to assess psychiatric diagnoses in siblings of study subjects. Children with a clinical history of gelastic seizures and hypothalamic hamartomas (n = 12; age range 3-14 years) had diagnoses confirmed by video-EEG and head...

Fludeoxyglucose F 18 positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET) can detect focal metabolic abnormalities ipsilateral to the seizure focus in 80% of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Regions outside the epileptogenic zone can also be affected. We hypothesized that these remote regions might show altered metabolism, tending to return towa...

To examine the relationship between frequency of complex partial (CPS) and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures (sGTCS) on hippocampal volume (HV) and temporal lobe metabolism. We performed volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography with 18fluorodeoxyglucose (18FDG-PET) in 32 patients with epilepsy. Tempor...

Intravascular lymphomatosis (IL) is a rare variant of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with an unusual predilection for the central nervous system (CNS). Most cases are not diagnosed until postmortem because of variable clinical presentation and nonspecific laboratory findings. Neuroimaging findings vary widely and range from diffuse involvement of the deep...

Gelastic seizures are known to be refractory to medical treatment and to date surgical therapy has yet to pinpoint the best treatment for these refractory seizures. There has been a multitude of case reports published on gelastic seizures and different surgical treatments, thus we performed a review of the literature on gelastic seizures and surgic...

Nonpolio enteroviral encephalitis usually presents as a diffuse, generalized encephalitis. Focal cerebral involvement by nonpolioviruses is uncommon, and neuroradiologic studies in these cases are usually normal. The authors present a case of a 5-year-old male with an acute encephalitic illness and bilateral lesions of the hippocampi on magnetic re...

To investigate the effect of vigabatrin (VGB; gamma-vinyl gamma-aminobutyric acid [GABA]), a selective irreversible GABA-transaminase inhibitor, on cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRGlc) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET and 15O water PET. Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) reduce CMRGlc to varying degrees....