Biomedical subjects

Carl B. Dodrill

Publications and source records attributed to Carl B. Dodrill.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Effects of Vagal Nerve Stimulation on Cognition and Quality of Life in Epilepsy.

To evaluate the cognitive and quality-of-life (QOL) impacts of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS), 160 patients with uncontrolled partial seizures from 20 sites were enrolled in a double-blind study. Patients were randomly assigned to low (minimal) stimulation (n = 82) or high (now clinically used) stimulation (n = 78) conditions and given a group of cognitive and QOL tests before implantation and after 12-16 weeks of VNS treatment. Results showed no clear cognitive changes. However, fewer emotional and physical problems were reported by the High Group than the Low Group at the end of the study. The 32 patients who had at least 50% seizure relief showed slightly more improvement in QOL variables than those patients who did not demonstrate this degree of seizure reduction. Overall, a small number of favorable QOL but no cognitive changes were associated with levels of VNS stimulation that are now typically used clinically.

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PubMed2001

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Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Evidence That Emotional Maladjustment Is Worse in Men Than in Women with Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of gender on adjustment and cognition in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (NES) and on patients with epilepsy. We compared 57 women and 27 men, all at least 16 years old, with only NES as documented by long-term EEG-video monitor studies, to equal numbers of randomly selected women and men with only epileptic seizures. Variables examined included age, age of onset, education, scales from the MMPI, the WAIS-R, and the number of tests outside normal limits from the Neuropsychological Battery for Epilepsy. We found no significant differences in mean age, intelligence, or percentage of neuropsychological tests outside normal limits across the four groups. Women and men with NES had significantly later age of onset of attacks compared with subjects of either gender with epilepsy (26 years vs 13 years, P < 0.001) and men with NES had greater educational achievement than women with NES or patients with epilepsy (P < 0.02). However, the most important findings were seen on the MMPI. Men with NES exhibited significantly greater elevations on multiple scales (especially Hysteria, Depression, Hypochondriasis, Psychoasthenia, Schizophrenia) compared with men with epilepsy or women with either epilepsy or NES. We conclude that men with NES have significantly worse patterns of emotional adjustment, as measured by the MMPI, than women with NES or subjects of either gender with epilepsy.

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PubMed2001

Language Disturbances as Side Effects of Topiramate and Zonisamide Therapy.

Reversible side effects of two sulfa-containing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), topiramate (TPM) and zonisamide (ZNS), are reported. These effects differ from those of other AEDs in that language impairment was the predominant cognitive complaint. Information was available for 42 patients exposed to TPM. Twenty-two (52%) complained of adverse effects; 12, specifically of deficits in language-related functions. Brief neuropsychological testing in four patients on TPM confirmed verbal deficits. These deficits could appear shortly after initiating TPM and disappear variably after drug withdrawal. Similar complaints were seen in a pilot study of ZNS monotherapy, administered in supratherapeutic doses, confirmed by neuropsychological testing. TPM and ZNS both contain a sulfa moiety, suggesting that verbal processing is especially sensitive to these sulfa-containing AEDs.

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