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Background: Epilepsy is one of the most common problems in neurology clinical practice and currently we are in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak. The coronavirus pandemic is an epidemiological and psychological crisis, which is likely to affect persons with epilepsy. Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with epilepsy and effects on their mental health. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional web-based survey carried out at the department of Neurology at a tertiary care hospital. A questionnaire was designed in the local language using Google Forms to assess basic knowledge regarding epilepsy, coronavirus, effects of COVID-19 and lockdown on epileptic patients and also effects on their mental health. The link to the online survey was distributed via WhatsApp messenger to epilepsy patients. Results: One hundred fifty-six cases were enrolled with 69.1% were below 34 years of age and male: female ratio was 1.2:1. Only 34.3% of the participants were employed and 50% of patients had an income of less than Rs. 3000 per month. Of the patients enrolled, 20.5% reported the “devil” and superstitions as a cause of epilepsy and only 10% of patients thought that tantric (holy priest) could treat the disease better than doctors. 53.8% of patients worried about getting COVID-19 and could not stop thoughts about being infected by coronavirus bothering them. 30.3% patients had increased seizure frequency during COVID-19 pandemic, of which the most common reason was that they forgot to take regular antiepileptic drugs (22.7%) or they had faced difficulty in obtaining medicine due to lockdown (12.1%). During the pandemic, 17% of patients reported depression symptoms and another 21% reported anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: The current COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected patients with epilepsy and increased seizure frequency, depression, anxiety, unemployment, and financial difficulty in obtaining medication.

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The majority of JME patients responded well not only to sodium valproate in dosages lower than usually prescribed but required very small dosages for maintenance after a seizure free period of 2 years.

Central pontine myelinolysis is a demyelinating affection of central pons diagnosed on the basis of characteristic MRI finding in an appropriate clinical setting. The condition has been described as universally fatal; however, recent reports of recovery have been documented. We report a case of central pontine and extra pontine myelinolysis, which presented with parkinsonian features apart from bulbar symptoms and made a remarkable recovery. A short review of the literature follows.

Objectives Epilepsy is a significant public health problem in the world today. The social stigma and impact on quality of life (QOL) may pose a bigger challenge than the clinical severity. In India, there are not many studies using quality of life in epilepsy (QOLIE-31) questionnaire to study the QOL in epileptic patients. This study may be useful in planning the management of patients with epilepsy. So, our study was conducted to determine the level of health-related QOL (HRQOL) of patients with epilepsy in a teaching hospital. Materials and methods This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in a teaching hospital from March to October 2015. The subjects included both male and female adults of at least 18 years of age with a diagnosis of epilepsy, which was present for minimum 1 year. The QOLIE-31 was used for collecting data on HRQOL. Results Totally, 70 patients with epilepsy were included in the study. The standard deviation (mean) total score of QOLIE-31 in our study was 60.46. There was a significant difference in the total score of QOLIE-31 within the monotherapy and polytherapy group as the total score of QOLIE-31 was better in monotherapy group as compared with polytherapy group. Conclusion The study revealed that patients who were on a single drug (monotherapy) had a much better QOL than the patients on more than one drug (polytherapy). How to cite this article Sureka RK, Yadav KS, Agrawal R, Nijhawan M. Quality of Life in Patients with Epilepsy: Study from a Northern Indian Teaching Hospital. J Mahatma Gandhi Univ Med Sci Tech 2017;2(1):10-13.

The occupational therapy has a decisive role in restoring fine motor skills in post stroke patients. The purpose of this study was to compile all the information pertaining to the assessment and treatment performed by occupational therapist. This study amass the complete personification of occupational therapy from the need of theoretical basis to the practical treatment aspects. The study covers the basic idea of stroke and complications arose in the normal movements and leads towards the complete functional aspects of the motor function of human hand. The position of occupational therapy in a rehabilitation team and a detailed knowledge of areas of occupational therapy related to fine motor skills helps to grab the evaluation process used and treatment protocol prescribed to restore fine motor skills after stroke. It helps to gain a detailed know-how of tools and instruments used for assessment and techniques used in the treatment of stroke that focuses on fine motor skills. This study reveals that occupational therapy as its specialty in hand rehabilitation has a wide range of assessments, treatment and management protocols to pursue the treatment of a variety of areas of hand rehabilitation including fine motor skills after an event of stroke

Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2(SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of corona virus disease-2019(COVID- 19) which has led to a global pandemic. The true extent of the burden of COVID-19 may be underestimated, and there is need to know the current prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in population. Methods The present study was a cross-sectional study to assess prevalence of SARS-CoV- 2 IgG antibody among 586 healthy voluntary blood donors who donated whole blood between mid-December 2020 to January 2021. A chemiluminescence assay was used to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody in serum samples in addition to recommended transfusion transmitted infections tests and Signal to Cut Off (S/C) > 1 was considered as reactive for antibody as per manufacturer’s instructions. Results In the present study, 586 healthy voluntary blood donors were enrolled and were screened for SARS- CoV-2 IgG antibody. Out of 586 donors, 52 donors had indeterminate values of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody. A total of 534 healthy voluntary blood donors’ samples were included in the present study for analysis. Out of total 534 healthy blood donors, 42.88% (229) were found to be seropositive while 57.11% (305) were found to be seronegative. Conclusion A 43% positivity of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody among healthy blood donors was detected which is an indication of presence of infection at community level and majority of the population already has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, there was no statistically significant association of type of blood group and age with seropositivity.