Abstract
Traditionally, histological investigations of the epileptic brain are required to identify epileptogenic brain lesions, to evaluate the impact of seizure activity, to search for mechanisms of drug-resistance and to look for comorbidities. For many instances, however, neuropathological studies fail to add substantial data on patients with complete clinical work-up. This may be due to sparse training in epilepsy pathology and or due to lack of neuropathological guidelines for companion animals. The protocols introduced herein shall facilitate systematic sampling and processing of epileptic brains and therefore increase the efficacy, reliability and reproducibility of morphological studies in animals suffering from seizures. Brain dissection protocols of two neuropathological centres with research focus in epilepsy have been optimised with regards to their diagnostic yield and accuracy, their practicability and their feasibility concerning clinical research requirements. The recommended guidelines allow for easy, standardised and ubiquitous collection of brain regions, relevant for seizure generation. Tissues harvested the prescribed way will increase the diagnostic efficacy and provide reliable material for scientific investigations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 216 |
| Journal | BMC Veterinary Research |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 28 2015 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Following reimbursements, fees and funding have been received by the authors in the last three years and have been declared in the competing interest section. CR, RGF, HAV, KM, MP and JP have received fees for acting as a consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim (KM, MP: consultancy during development and approval of imepitoin; CR: pain consultancy; RGF, JP, HAV: consultancy pre and post launch of imepitoin). AT has been an advisor for Boehringer Ingelheim. SFMB, HAV and AT have been responsible principal investigator of several research studies concerning imepitoin financed by Boehringer Ingelheim. SFMB, HAV, JP, HP, MB, CR and AF received speaking fees from Boehringer Ingelheim. HP received consulting and speaking fees and funding for a collaborative project from Eisai Co. LTD. HAV received funding for a collaborative project from Desitin and Nestlé Purina Research. AF and LDR received reimbursements from Boehringer Ingelheim. LDR has received consulting and speaking fees from Vetoquinol. MP has received consultant fees for Aratana. The other authors declared that they have no competing interests.
Funding Information:
This paper implements mutual experiences in epilepsy pathology collected by esteemed colleagues and coworkers. Many of the concepts have been based on comparative algorithms that Prof. Erwin Dahme, LMU Munich, addressed already fourty years ago. Individual approaches however would not have been intertwined to this systematic work-up without the groundbreaking efforts to clarify and standardise epilepsy pathology in humans by Prof. Ingmar Blümcke, German Epilepsy Registry and the Neuropathological Institute, University of Erlangen. The authors also would like to thank the research office for assessing the manuscript according to the Royal Veterinary College’s code of good research practice (Authorisation Number – CCS_ 01029). The authors are grateful to all owners of epileptic pets and veterinary colleagues who have inspired the group to create consensus statements. This study was not financially supported by any organization or grant.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Matiasek et al.
Keywords
- Canine
- Epileptogenic
- Feline
- Hippocampus
- Ictogenic
- Neuropathology
- Processing
- Seizures