Epilepsy is traditionally classified as a disease with recurrent epileptic seizures. However, for many patients psychiatric symptoms, cognitive decline and behavioral change affect quality of life more than seizures, and symptoms may even be present before the first seizure. This could imply a common pathophysiological mechanism, that translates into changes in brain anatomical pathways and functional networks early in the disease process.
As part of the BrainDrugs research alliance, in the BrainDrugs-Epilepsy study, we aim to establish cohorts of newly diagnosed drug naïve epilepsy patients along with patients, who experienced their first epileptic seizure. We will follow the patients for 5 years in an open, longitudinal, cohort study and collect a wide range of markers that may cause, modify or label the pathphysiological processes that determine the course of epilepsy in individual patients. These factors include biomarkers of brain morphology and networks using neuroimaging and high-definition EEG, and variety of other factors including demographics, life style, personality traits and cognition (see Figure 1).
The ultimate goal is to predict patient-level treatment response that can aid early implementation of preventive strategies and treatment decisions in the clinical setting and thereby improve patient care and quality of life.
Figure 1: BrainDrugs-Epilepsy Study workflow for Cohort I-III and healthy participants. EEG: Electroencephalography. MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging. PET: Positron emission tomography.
The BrainDrugs-Epilepsy Study is performed in collaboration with the Epilepsy Clinic at the Department of Neurology and the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Rigshospitalet.
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Lars H. Pinborg Research leader BrainDrugs-E Clinical research associate professor in precision medicine, MD (Neurologist), DMSc LindkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-hageman-pinborg-775170239/ Twitter: @LarsPinborgEpi |
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Maja Rou Marstrand-Jørgensen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maja-rou-marstrand-j%C3%B8rgensen-96a8b5211/ |
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Vibeke Dam PhD, post-doctural fellow (psychology) |
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Cheng Teng Ip PhD, post-doctural fellow (EEG) |
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Minna Litman Research and specialist nurse |
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Helene Kaas Medical student |
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Laxmy B. Krishnapillai Medical student |
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Lone Freyr Nurse |
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Emilie Henriksen Radiographer |
People involved from Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Rigshospitalet:
Christina Høi-Hansen Professor, MD, DMSc
Alfred Peter Born, MD, PhD
People involved from Epilepsy Clinic, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet:
Noemi B. Andersen, MD, DMSc, Head of Clinic
Ioannis Tsiropoulos, MD, PhD
Hanne Mørk Christensen, MD, PhD
Per Jensen, MD, PhD
Amalia Larsen, MD
Kirsten Vinter, Neuropsychologist
Contact information and more details about the project in Danish via the link below.
BrainDrugs-Epilepsi Studiet