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INTRODUCTION: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, affecting about 2% of the population worldwide. Lamotrigine (LTG) is a second generation anti-epileptic drug (AED) with broad spectrum of activity, a favourable side-effect profile, simpler dosing than earlier drugs and efficacious in diverse epilepsy syndromes. Areas covered: The present review focuses on pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, safety and tolerability of LTG and its effect on cognition, psychiatry, quality of life, women and pregnancy along with effect of enzyme inducing and enzyme inhibiting drugs over LTG and their effect on serum level fluctuations by collecting data from various studies over the years until 2016. Expert commentary: Results from various studies and clinical trials indicate that LTG possessed a favourable profile of anticonvulsant activity and good tolerability as a monotherapy/or add-on therapy in children and adult patients against several types of seizures and syndromes. It has wide clinical dose range with favourable pharmacokinetic properties making it an excellent therapeutic option in epilepsy.

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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: A disease surveillance model developed in the North Arcot district, Tamil Nadu, was found to be practical, efficient, inexpensive and useful for public health action to monitor the success of ongoing interventions and to detect and intercept outbreaks. It was centred in the private (voluntary) sector with full co-operation and participation by the government sector. As Kerala state wanted to replicate this model in all districts, one district was chosen to pilot test it centred within the existing district public health system, soliciting participation from the private sector. A two-year (1999-2001) performance of this model is presented. METHODS: After elaborate preparations including the selection of 14 diseases to be reported and training of doctors in the private sector health care institutions and doctors and paramedical staff in all government health centres and hospitals, printed post cards were widely distributed. The business reply system was used so as to avoid handling postage stamps. Cards were received by the nodal officer in the district public health office and checked on a daily basis to detect disease prevalence and evidence of clustering in time and space. Swift action was taken on detecting case clustering. A monthly bulletin containing disease summaries and other useful information was freely distributed to all reporting centres. RESULTS: On an average, just over 100 disease reports were received every month. The most frequently reported diseases were, in the descending order, leptospirosis, acute dysentery, typhoid fever and acute hepatitis. Among vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, only measles was reported, but no diphtheria, tetanus or whooping cough. Several outbreaks were detected early and interventions applied to intercept them. The most striking example was that of cholera, the occurrence of which was detected swiftly for instituting highly successful control measures. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The district level disease surveillance system centred in the government public health system has been highly successful. Disease surveillance was responsible for the government to obtain information on the prevalence of leptospirosis in the district. The reports enabled the public health officers to detect disease-clustering as the early signals of outbreaks and to take quick remedial measures.

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A total of 110 children aged 3 months to 16 years underwent two-dimensional echocardiography of the coronary arteries. Forty-two normal subjects and 68 patients with Kawasaki disease were evaluated. All 68 patients with Kawasaki disease underwent selective coronary arteriography. The objectives of this study were to 1) develop a normal profile of the proximal left and right coronary arteries as to caliber and shape in infants, toddlers and children using echocardiography; 2) compare the dimensions and shape of the coronary arteries of patients with Kawasaki disease but no obvious aneurysms with those of the coronary arteries of normal children; and 3) develop criteria that would permit distinguishing a large but normal coronary artery from a true aneurysm in patients with Kawasaki disease. In the normal subjects and patients with Kawasaki disease, the caliber of the coronary arteries showed little variability from the ostium to 10 mm distally, and ranged in size from 2 mm in infants to 5 mm in teenagers. There was no significant difference between male and female subjects. The feature that distinguished the large but normal coronary artery without aneurysm from that with an aneurysm was its uniformity of caliber. Also, the caliber of the opposite coronary artery was generally at the lower limits of normal. It appears that the proximal coronary arteries of infants and children can be accurately assessed using high resolution two-dimensional echocardiography, and that sequential evaluation of subtle changes over time may be performed.

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Constrictive pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy are difficult to distinguish at the bedside and occasionally at routine cardiac catheterization. Left ventricular diastolic function was studied by computer analysis of digitized M-mode echocardiograms in four patients with constrictive disease and three with restrictive disease, and the data were compared with those of normal subjects. The respective distinguishing echographic features of constrictive pericarditis and restrictive cardiomyopathy were as follows: the major filling period of the left ventricle was 78 +/- 9% of normal versus 128 +/- 4% (p less than 0.01), minimal left ventricular dimension to peak filling interval was 50 +/- 10 versus 110 ms (p less than 0.05) and the maximal rate of left ventricular posterior wall thinning was -4.9 versus -2.3 seconds-1 (p less than 0.05). This preliminary study suggests that it may be possible to accurately diagnose the two disease entities using this technique at the bedside and to avoid cardiac catheterization.

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Two cases of intracranial meningiomas diagnosed fortuitously with radionuclide scans using bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals are described. The clinical significance and possible mechanism(s) of extraosseous uptake of bone-seeking radionuclides are reviewed.

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A clinical entity described as "redundant nerve root syndrome" of the cauda equina is reviewed. Eighteen reported cases with typical gross features are analyzed. Considerable speculation has existed regarding the pathogenesis of this syndrome, chiefly because the involved nerve root was not biopsied in the majority of instances. In one reported case, when the redundant root was examined histologically, a plexiform neurofibroma was found to be the cause of the thickening and redundancy of the nerve. In the case presented here, the enlarged nerve roots were part of a malignant plexiform neurofibroma with a short clinical course, and the tumor led to the death of the patient. It is suggested that biopsy of the involved nerve root is crucial in establishing the definitive diagnosis.

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