Domoic acid (0.6 mg/kg) was injected intravenously through the caudal vein in pregnant female mice on the 13th day of gestation and EEG was monitored in the developing progeny during postnatal days 10-30. No clinical seizure activity was observed during this period. However, these mice demonstrated generalized electrocortical inhibition associated with diffuse spike and wave activity in their basal EEG records. Intrauterine domoic acid-exposed (IUD) mice had significantly reduced seizure thresholds to an additional dose of domoic acid, given postnatally. At the light microscopic level, hippocampus of IUD mice exhibited age related developmental neurotoxicity. No cellular damage was observed on postnatal day 1. On day 14, severe neuronal damage was observed in the hippocampal CA3 and dentate gyrus regions. On day 30, in addition to CA3 and dentate gyrus, CA4 was also involved. Brain regional GABA levels were significantly reduced and glutamate levels increased in IUD mice. Kainate receptor binding to hippocampal synaptosomal membranes from IUD mice at 30 d of age was significantly increased. There was also an enhanced 45Ca influx into cortical and hippocampal slices of these mice. These findings suggest that intrauterine exposure to domoic acid can induce hippocampal excitotoxicity by increasing the neuronal calcium influx through kainate receptor activation. Histological changes suggest progressive hippocampal damage in IUD mice, but without overt clinical seizures.

Abstract:Twenty-six (41%) of 63 consecutive patients with triphasic waves had various types of metabolic encephalopathies while 37 patients (59%) had non-metabolic encephalopathies, usually senile dementia. Triphasic waves were not found to be specific for any single type of metabolic encephalopathy.Etiology was more closely linked to conscious level at recording than any morphological or distributional feature of the triphasic waves themselves. Thus, all 31 alert patients had non-metabolic encephalopathies while all 13 comatose patients had metabolic encephalopathies.The second, positive, component (Wave II) most often had the highest voltage while equally maximal Waves I and II occurred next most commonly. Triphasic waves were most often maximally expressed anteriorly.Among patients with metabolic encephalopathies, a posterior-anterior delay or lag of the wave II peak occurred more commonly than did the better known anterior-posterior lag. Lags occurred with both metabolic and nonmetabolic conditions, but were more common with the former. No difference in quantity or mode of appearance existed between the metabolic and non-metabolic groups when matched for conscious level.Prognosis for patients with either metabolic or non-metabolic encephalopathies was unfavourable. Only 4 of 24 metabolic and one of 35 non-metabolic patients were well at follow-up over 2 years later.Forty percent of EEGs with sharp and slow wave complexes (slow spike waves) had sporadically-appearing triphasic waves. The relative amplitudes of the 3 components differed from triphasic waves in other conditions: equally maximal Waves II and III were the most usual form.

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ABSTRACT:We analysed the charts of 131 consecutive cases of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage -without arteriovenous malformations -for seizures. Convulsions occurred in 31 patients (24%) and most often within 24 hours of bleeding. Motor manifestations of partial seizures were of no lateralizing value to aneurysm site. Early mortality, rebleeding and intracerebral hematoma were similar in both seizure and non-seizure groups. Late seizures were infrequent in survivors who had suffered seizures in the acute stage -thus questioning the necessity for routine, long term prophylactic anticonvulsants in these patients. RESUME: Convulsions associees a une hemorragie sous-arachnoidienne. Nous avons analyse les dossiers de 131 cas consecutifs d'hemorragie sous-arachnoidienne spontanee -sans malformation arterio-veineuse -pour determiner la presence ou I'absence de convulsions. Trente-et-un patients ont presente des convulsions, le plus souvent en dedans de 24 heures de I'hemorragie. Les manifestations motrices des crises partielles n'avaient pas de valeur quant a la lateralisation du site de l'anevrisme. La mortality precoce, I'hemorragie subsequente et I'hematome intracerebral dtaient aussi frequents dans les deux groupes, soit avec convulsions et sans convulsion. Les convulsions d'apparition tardive etaient rares chez les survivants qui avaient souffert de convulsions a la phase aigue -remettant ainsi en question la necessite de prescrire de routine des anticonvulsivants a long terme chez ces patients.Can. J. Neurol. Sci. 1986: 13:229-231 Spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SSH) is a common neurological disorder and accounts for approximately 10% of all strokes.1 ' 2 Complications such as rebleeding, vasospasm and hydrocephalus are well recognized and there is extensive literature on these topics. However, the subject of seizures in SSH has not attracted as much attention. Pioneer monographs 3 "" and more recent large studies 12 " 15 on SSH fail to discuss seizures in detail or make only brief comments on this complication. This is particularly evident for SSH not associated with arteriovenous malformations (AVM). We are aware of only 6 reviews' 6 " 21 in world literature (4 English, I Serbo-Croatian and I Chinese), about seizures in SSH of non-AVM etiology. In this paper, we analyse the following aspects: i) incidence, type and time of convulsions, ii) seizure laterlizing value for aneurysm site, iii) could intracerebral hematoma cause seizures, iv) do seizures affect early rebleeding and mortality and v) the need for longterm prophylactic anticonvulsants for patients who have suffered seizures in the acute stage. METHODSSpontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage was defined as an acute neurological event leading to the presence of blood in subarachnoid space, confirmed by CT scan or/and cerebrospinal fluid examination in the absence of trauma. Cases associated with neonatal hypoxic encephalopathy, primary hypertensive intracerebral hematoma, cerebral and spinal vascular malformations, and those with chronic idiopathic ...

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