UAB Department of Neurosurgery Professor Kristen Riley, M.D., and Neurosurgery PGY6 Resident Adeel Ilyas, M.D., are among the authors of a recent paper published in NEJM Evidence titled, “Pro-Ictal State in Human Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.”

Through their research, the authors were able to detect pro-ictal (periods of heightened seizure risk) states in study participants with temporal lobe epilepsy using continuous thalamocortical electroencephalography (EEG). 

Neural activities in temporal lobe epilepsy, the archetypical drug-resistant focal epilepsy, are traditionally classified into interictal, ictal and postictal states, however, recent EEG studies have subdivided the interictal state into pre-ictal and pro-ictal states. 

The authors conclude that, in their small sample, on the basis of thalamocortical EEG, pro-ictal states can be identified in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and detected more than one half hour before seizure onset.