Objectives – Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the European region. In spite of a decreasing trend, stroke related mortality remains higher in Hungary and Romania when compared to the EU average. This might be due to higher incidence, increased severity or even less effective care. Methods – In this study we used two large, hospital based databases from Targu Mures (Romania) and Debrecen (Hungary) to compare not only the demographic characteristics of stroke patients from these countries but also the risk factors, as well as stroke severity and short term outcome. Results – The gender related distribution of patients was similar to those found in the European Survey, whereas the mean age of patients at stroke onset was similar in the two countries but lower by four years. Although the length of hospital stay was significantly different in the two countries it was still much shorter (about half) than in most reports from western European countries. The overall fatality rate in both databases, regardless of gender was comparable to averages from Europe and other countries. In both countries we found a high number of risk factors, frequently overlapping. The prevalence of risk factors (hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidaemia) was higher than those reported in other countries, which can explain the high ratio of recurring stroke. Discussion – In summary, the comparatively analyzed data from the two large databases showed several similarities, especially regarding the high number of modifiable risk factors, and as such further effort is needed regarding primary prevention.

Marchiafava-Bignami disease (MBD) is a rare alcohol-associated disorder characterized by demyelination and necrosis of the corpus callosum. We report three patients who had history of chronic alcoholism, different clinical presentation and MRI findings consistent with the diagnosis of Marchiafava-Bignami disease.

[The most effective type of epilepsy surgery in adults is temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery. Three quarter of the patients become seizure free, however the remaining patients experience seizures after resection. In our study we analyzed retrospectively the possible electro-clinical, neuroimaging and surgery-related outcome predictors in 94 adult patients who had anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) from the material of Epilepsy Centre of the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Budapest since the beginning of the surgery program in 1989 until 2001. Three outcome endpoints were chosen: the seizure status at the last visit, the longest seizure free period and the time to the first non-acute postoperative seizure. The predictors were assessed by multivariate and Cox regression methods. After one year of surgery 72% of the patients were seizure free, after two years 67% and after five years 59%. Factors predicting favorable outcome in TLE surgery were: typical temporomesial aura, strictly unilateral interictal anterotemporal spikes, unilateral ictal onset, slow contralateral propagation, hippocampal sclerosis (HS) as etiology. Factors predicting poor outcome in TLE surgery were: increase in seizure frequency in the last two preoperative years, presence of preoperative psychiatric disturbances, ictal contralateral propagation, MRI lesion distant from the surgery site, incongruency of data of preoperative investigations, postoperative sequels and non-HS type MR residuum.]

[Background and purpose - Although oligoepilepsy (OLE) is a used term in many protocols, guidelines and the everyday routine, it is found practically nowhere in the scientific literature. The aim of our study is to investigate and evaluate of the main characteristics of his subcategory of epilepsy. We try to find answer to the basic question of not only theoretical but also great practical importance whether the OLE does really exist, is it an independent entity of epilepsy or only its general benign clinical presentation. Methods - We considered OLE if the patients had two seizures maximally in the last year of their course. We counted only the two most severe clinical types, the generalized tonic-clonic and the complex partial seizures. We divided the OLE into two subtypes: those patients who had OLE from the beginning of their epilepsy (OLE1) and those ones, in whom the OLE was the result of the treatment (OLE2). We analysed retrospectively the data of 817 “OLE-suspicious” patients taken from our EPIMED database Results - We found 47 patients met the inclusion criteria (OLE1=34, OLE2=13). OLE patients did not differ from the general epileptic population according to the age and gender, the type of seizures, the electro-clinical diagnosis and the possible cause of their first seizure. But we found statistically significant differences in two measures. In OLE, far less seizure provoking factors were found in the sporadic seizures. Concerning the social conditions: while the range of employees was equal, the vast majority of OLE patients were able to work at their level of education. Conclusion - We found that more than 5% of people with epilepsy can belong to the OLE category. In the majority of OLE patients the seizure frequency is low from the beginning of the disease. The sporadic seizures in OLE are generally not provoked. The chances of OLE patients in the world of job are better for the OLE patients. In our opinion OLE rather seems to be an independent entity among epilepsy. Therefore larger prospective studies are needed to the exact description of OLE and to establish the special standards for the everyday medical practice.]

[AIMS - In this trial we have analyzed the data of cirrhotic naiv as well as treatment experienced patients with chronic hepatitis C, treated in the East-Hungarian hepatology centers, between 2004 and 2010, because in the era of triple combinations, we mostly treat cirrhotic patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS - We have found 272 patients and in most of them the cirrhosis was proven by biopsy. These patients were treated with pegylated interferon (pegIFN) alpha plus ribavirin in combination, 172 were naiv and 100 patients were treatment experienced. Data were collected retrospectively and the pretreatment parameters like age, sex, body weight, transaminase level, genotype, initial viral load, comorbidities, and proportion of first and repeated treatments have been analyzed. We have investigated the influence of the initial parameters as well as the type of pegIFN on the complete early virologic response (cEVR) and on the sustained virological response (SVR). RESULTS - The cEVR was 27% (74/272) and the SVR was 21% (58/272) in the whole patient population. With pegIFN a-2a, 32% (45/141) cEVR and 28% (39/141) SVR, whereas with pegIFN a-2b 22% (29/131) cEVR and 15% (19/131) SVR were achieved. Among this patient population the largest subgroup was the naiv patients with high viral load (HVL). In this subgroup the SVR was 21% (28/132). However, with pegIFN a-2a SVR was 29% (21/73), whereas with pegIFN a-2b SVR was only 12% (7/59). The above differences found between the two pegIFNs proved to be statistically significant. Age <40 years, low viral load (LVL) and treatment with pegIFN a-2a proved to be independent positive factors influencing cEVR as well as SVR, by multiple logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION - According to these results, cirrhotic patients with hepatitis C may benefit if pegIFN a-2a is used as backbone therapy in triple combinations. ]