The Epilepsy Clinical Research Program continues its emphasis on research of clinical importance which at the same time provides basic information on epilepsy and brain function. This renewal consists of four research projects and a supporting administrative and research core. The program organizes research into epilepsy carried out at the University of Minnesota and its affiliated hospitals and medical practices and also involves the active participation of the Mayo Clinic, the Marshfield Clinic, and researchers from the University of Texas and Columbia University. Studies in the genetic epidemiology of epilepsy will focus on identifying familial groups within recognized epilepsy syndromes that can be used for genetic analysis. The group working on gene localization will continue efforts to identify the gene loci of benign familial neonatal convulsions and for rolandic epilepsy, and further characterize a group with an autosomal dominant temperature sensitive gene in febrile convulsions. The project on epidemiology of epilepsy continues to use the Mayo Data Base to study the usefulness of the ILAE classification of epilepsy syndromes, for epidemiologic investigations, co-morbidity leading to increased seizures in pregnancy or increased congenital malformations, risk factors for post-traumatic epilepsy, the prognosis of patients who experience status epilepticus, and the incidence of epilepsy in Rochester, Minnesota from 1985 to 1994. A fourth study will recruit patients for genetic analysis, determine if sudden death among persons with epilepsy is a specific syndrome with identifiable risk factors, and determine if persons who have a clearance of antiepileptic medications substantially different from average have a genetically determined altered pathway. This renewal builds on working relationships between several clinical and basic disciplines, which makes each of the projects interactive by sharing concepts, patients and resources in a way not possible without the framework of a program project.
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