PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Accurate prognosis for epilepsy patients

Researchers at Bonn University Hospital and at the MPI Cologne predict chances of success of an operation

2013-07-17
(Press-News.org) Scientists at Bonn University Hospital and at the Max Planck Institute for neurological research in Cologne have developed a method with which the chances of success of a surgical procedure for temporal lobe epilepsy can be accurately predicted. The rate of accurate predictions is more than 90%. The results are now being presented in the scientific journal "NeuroImage:Clinical."

When many nerve cells simultaneously fire in the brain, an epileptic seizure results. The most frequent form is temporal lobe epilepsy. It originates in one of the two temporal lobes which contain, among other things, important structures for coordinating memory. Because many patients do not respond to medication over the long term, the seizure focus in the affected temporal lobe is often removed in a neurosurgical procedure. However, approximately one-third of patients who undergo surgery do not experience any subsequent improvement. "The procedure is associated with risks -- therefore a reliable prognosis regarding the chances of success is very important," says Prof. Dr. Bernd Weber from the Department of Epileptology of Bonn University Hospital.

An Algorithm Assesses Patients' Brain Images

At the Life&Brain Center, the Bonn epilepsy specialists, together with scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research in Cologne, have found a way for the chances of success of a temporal lobe procedure in epilepsy patients to be predicted with a striking degree of accuracy. The researchers used images from magnetic resonance imaging from a total of 49 epilepsy patients who had previously undergone surgical removal of the seizure focus in the left temporal lobe. Using a special computer program developed by Lisa Feis from the Max Planck Institute as a part of her dissertation, the scientists looked at the brain images for differences between the patient group whose seizures had improved following surgery and those with unchanged symptoms. "Using brain images, we trained the algorithm to differentiate in the best possible way between seizure-free and non-seizure-free patients," reports Prof. Weber.

Hitting the Mark with Striking Accuracy

Using the algorithm results, the scientists then calculated the chances of success of an intervention and compared them with the actual findings after the surgery. Because the brains of women and men differ, for example in the symmetry of the halves of the brain, the researchers evaluated the data according to gender. The rate of accurate predictions was 96% in the case of female patients and 94% in the case of male patients.

Additional Research Needed

The tests have been performed retrospectively to date: The researchers applied the method retrospectively on patients who have already undergone surgery. As the next step, the scientists want to examine how well the method predicts chances of success in epilepsy patients who still have yet to undergo a procedure on the temporal lobe. Other university medical centers and even more detailed imaging procedures will be included in this. "At present, we are still at a stage that is too early for clinical application; further research is needed," says Prof. Dr. Christian Elger, director of the Bonn Epilepsy Clinic.

###

Publication: Prediction of post-surgical seizure outcome in left mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, Journal "NeuroImage:Clinical", DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2013.06.010 Internet: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158213000788

Contact Information:

Prof. Dr. Bernd Weber
Department of Epileptology of Bonn University Hospital
Tel. 0228/6885262
E-Mail: bernd.weber@ukb.uni-bonn.de


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Injectable 'smart sponge' holds promise for controlled drug delivery

2013-07-17
Researchers have developed a drug delivery technique for diabetes treatment in which a sponge-like material surrounds an insulin core. The sponge expands and contracts in response to blood sugar levels to release insulin as needed. The technique could also be used for targeted drug delivery to cancer cells. "We wanted to mimic the function of health beta-cells, which produce insulin and control its release in a healthy body," says Dr. Zhen Gu, lead author of a paper describing the work and an assistant professor in the joint biomedical engineering program at North Carolina ...

Information in brain cells' electrical activity combines memory, environment, and state of mind

2013-07-17
The information carried by the electrical activity of neurons is a mixture of stored memories, environmental circumstances, and current state of mind, scientists have found in a study of laboratory rats. The findings, which appear in the journal PLoS Biology, offer new insights into the neurobiological processes that give rise to knowledge and memory recall. The study was conducted by Eduard Kelemen, a former graduate student and post-doctoral associate at the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, and André Fenton, a professor at New York University's ...

Outgoing people lead happier lives

2013-07-17
Research from the University of Southampton has shown that young adults, who are more outgoing or more emotionally stable, are happier in later life than their more introverted or less emotionally stable peers. In the study, published in the Journal of Research in Personality, Dr Catharine Gale from the Medical Research Council's Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton and a team from the University of Edinburgh and University College London, examined the effects of neuroticism and extraversion at ages 16 and 26 years on mental wellbeing and life satisfaction ...

Birds and humans have similar brain wiring

2013-07-17
A researcher from Imperial College London and his colleagues have developed for the first time a map of a typical bird brain, showing how different regions are connected together to process information. By comparing it to brain diagrams for different mammals such as humans, the team discovered that areas important for high-level cognition such as long-term memory and problem solving are wired up to other regions of the brain in a similar way. This is despite the fact that both mammal and bird brains have been evolving down separate paths over hundreds of millions of years. The ...

Danish survey evaluates the content of chemical contaminants in food

2013-07-17
The National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark has evaluated the content of chemical contaminants in food in the period 2004-2011 at the request of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration. The content of chemical contaminants is evaluated in relation to which specific foods Danes eat, and how much. The latest monitoring report includes even more compounds than the one from 2003. "Monitoring of unwanted compounds is performed to ensure that the food eaten by the Danish people does not contain too many harmful compounds. In general, Danes should not ...

Deciphering butterflies' designer colors: Findings could inspire new hue-changing materials

2013-07-17
WASHINGTON, July 17—Butterfly wings can do remarkable things with light, and humans are still trying to learn from them. Physicists have now uncovered how subtle differences in the tiny crystals of butterfly wings create stunningly varied patterns of color even among closely related species. The discovery, reported today in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optical Materials Express, could lead to new coatings for manufactured materials that could change color by design, if researchers can figure out how to replicate the wings' light-manipulating properties. "It ...

The key to ion beams' polarizability

2013-07-17
Polarisability determines the force with which an inhomogeneous external electric field acts on the ions of an ion beam. However, it can be quite tricky to obtain accurate values for this force. Now, two German theoretical chemists, Volker Koch from Bielefeld University and Dirk Andrae from the Free University Berlin, have devised formulas providing the polarisability of atomic ions as a function of their total charge number. Their findings, about to be published in EPJ D, have implications for many applications, ranging from the use of ion beams for research purposes or ...

Monkey nation: Study confirms wealth of primates in Tanzania

2013-07-17
NEW YORK (July 17, 2013) — A five-year study by the Wildlife Conservation Society gives new hope to some of the world's most endangered primates by establishing a roadmap to protect all 27 species in Tanzania – the most primate-diverse country in mainland Africa. The study combines Tanzania's first-ever inventory of all primate species and their habitats with IUCN Red List criteria and other factors such as threats and rarity, ranking all 27 species from most vulnerable to least vulnerable. The authors then identify a network of "Priority Primate Areas" for conservation. ...

A new Anagnorisma moth species from the beautiful Binaloud Mountain Iran

2013-07-17
Researchers described a new species of Noctuidae moth from Iran which is the fifth described species of the genus Anagnorisma. The new species A. chamrani has its name in honour of Dr. Mostafa Chamran (1932–1981), an Iranian scientist and defence minister. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys. During an expedition at high altitude of above 2500 m of north-eastern Iran on a cold night in late summer 2012, a couple of undescribed specimens of Anagnorisma moths were collected. The specimens had been attracted to an ultraviolet light trap on the Binaloud ...

NASA sees Tropical Storm Cimaron pass between Taiwan and the Philippines

2013-07-17
Tropical Depression 08W strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Cimaron by the morning of July 17. NASA's Aqua satellite captured the storm is it passed between the northern Philippines and Taiwan. On July 17 at 0900 UTC, Tropical Storm Cimaron was located about 294 nautical miles (338.3 miles/544.5 km) north of Manila, Philippines, near 19.9 north latitude and 120.8 east longitude. Cimaron's maximum sustained winds increased to 35 knots (40 mph/64 kph) and the tropical storm is moving to the northwest at 18 knots (20.7 mph/33.3 kph). Cimaron is generating ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

Mission accomplished for the “T2T” Hong Kong Bauhinia Genome Project

[Press-News.org] Accurate prognosis for epilepsy patients
Researchers at Bonn University Hospital and at the MPI Cologne predict chances of success of an operation