CVD Risk in Epilepsy Increases Dementia Risk, Teriflunomide in RIS, FDA Clears Dry-Sensor EEG Headset

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Welcome to this special edition of Neurology News Network. I’m Marco Meglio.

In a cross-sectional study of nearly 500,000 individuals with either epilepsy, stroke, or migraine, findings showed that focal epilepsy was associated with the greatest risk of developing dementia, which was magnified substantially in individuals with high cardiovascular risk. Using data collected from the UK Biobank, 3864 individuals had a diagnosis of focal epilepsy only, 6397 had a history of stroke only, and 14,158 had migraine only. After following patients for slightly over 10 years, patients who presented with focal epilepsy had a higher risk of developing dementia compared with stroke or migraine. Among those with high cardiovascular risk and focal epilepsy (n = 762), 9.1% developed dementia compared with only 0.4% of controls with low cardiovascular risk. When comparing only individuals with high cardiovascular risk, those with focal epilepsy had an HR of 3.73 for developing dementia compared controls while participants with stroke had an HR of 1.90 when compared with controls.

Findings from the phase 3 TERIS study showed that treatment with teriflunomide (Aubagio; Sanofi) significantly reduced the time to first clinical event in patients with radiologically isolated syndrome (RIS), often considered the presymptomatic phase of multiple sclerosis (MS). Introduced in 2009, RIS refers to an entity in which white matter lesions fulfilling the criteria for MS occur in individuals without a history of clinical demyelinating attack or alternative etiology. Some have argued that RIS is not truly a clinical diagnosis and instead is part of a continuum from health to disease that cannot be distinguished on the basis of imaging and clinical features. During follow-up, 28 clinical events were detected, 20 of which were in the placebo group and 8 on teriflunomide. Results from the and adjusted models further demonstrated the superiority of teriflunomide in preventing a first clinical event.

According to an announcement from Cumulus Neuroscience, the FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to its novel, dry-sensor EEG headset, a user-friendly device that enables self-directed use and generates clinical-grade data for remote physician review. The Cumulus EEG device, designed for both adult and adolescent patients, is available in 4 sizes, and is easily self-applied in less than 5 minutes with guidance from the Cumulus mobile app, thus eliminating the need for EEG technician or healthcare professional support. The platform combines clinical-grade, at-home data with machine learning analytics and a large real-world database of annotated, longitudinal, matched data. Brian Murphy, founder and chief scientific officer, Cumulus Neuroscience, said in a statement, "By providing reliable data across multiple domains of brain function, from specific disease symptoms to functional neurophysiology, clinical researchers can accelerate the development of treatments for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders – bringing hope to millions of patients and families navigating unmet needs in the CNS ecosystem."

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