Active clinical trials for "Seizures"

A follow-on, two-year open-label extension study of ganaxolone as add-on therapy in adult patients with drug-resistant partial-onset seizures

This is an open label, randomized, prospective study of the impact on healthcare utilization of a surface Electromyography (sEMG) based seizure monitoring and alerting system for Veterans with seizures with upper extremity motor involvement, who have had a recent non-diagnostic EMU stay.

The purpose of the initial screening study is to find out if immune problems are an unrecognized cause of epilepsy in some patients. This study consists of a single blood sample, which will be tested for possible immune abnormalities. If enough patients are found who show immune abnormalities, those patients who are still having uncontrolled seizures will be invited to participate in a study of immune treatment with a compound called intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). The study hypothesis is that a significant proportion of the young-onset, refractory, image-negative, partial-onset epilepsy population have an underlying autoimmune disorder, and many of these patients will respond to immune therapies, including IVIG. At present, the importance of immune abnormalities in causing epilepsy, and the proper treatment when they are found, are both poorly understood. The investigators hope that this study will help us understand the cause of some cases that are difficult to treat.

This is an open label, randomized, prospective study of the impact on healthcare utilization of a surface Electromyography (sEMG) based seizure monitoring and alerting system for Veterans with seizures with upper extremity motor involvement, that are refractory to three or more antiepileptic drugs.

Seizures are a potential complication of surgical repair of intracranial aneurysms. In order to prevent seizures, many surgeons administer prophylactic anti-epileptic medication during the intra-operative and post-operative period, however, such practice is not supported by clinical data. Retrospective review found the incidence of postoperative seizures was higher in those who received anti-epileptics versus those who did not. The goal is to examine the utility of levetiracetam (Keppra) for seizure prophylaxis in patients undergoing surgical repair of unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Epileptic seizures arise from neuronal defects that often alter the capacity of the brain to process sensory information. During absence seizures, a frequent epileptic syndrome in children, the normal conscious and perceptual processes are temporarily interrupted. This is the result of abnormal synchronized neural activities in the thalamo-cortical loops, leading to bilateral spike-and-wave discharges (SWDs) in the cortical electroencephalograms (EEGs). The brain mechanisms underlying the lack of sensory experience during absence seizures are disputed. Based on preliminary data, the investigators hypothesize that the alternation of 'spike' and 'wave' patterns during seizure could cause a time-to-time inconstancy in cortical responsiveness, preventing conscious perception. Using a real-time closed-loop stimulation system, the investigators will research how the S- and W-patterns specifically alter the sensory-evoked responses in the EEG. During a standard EEG, visual stimulations will be applied between and during absence seizures to test the hypothesis that repeated sensory stimuli, applied with an appropriate timing relative to the seizure-related oscillatory cycle, could negatively interfere with the regenerative network mechanisms involved in the occurrence of SWDs. The completion of this project should permit to unveil a new neuronal mechanism supporting the lack of conscious experience during absences and pave the way for new clinical non-invasive strategies to interrupt ongoing seizure activity.

A two arm, randomized, double-blind study comparing zonisamide with placebo. The zonisamide arm will consist of 100 subjects and the placebo arm of 50 subjects. Study medication will be administered as an add-on treatment to the subject's current 1 or 2 anti-epileptic (AEDs).

Evaluating efficacy & safety of lacosamide versus Placebo in a blinded fashion as add-on Therapy for Primary Generalized Tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizures in subject 4 years of age or greater with idiopathic generalized epilepsy currently taking 1 to 3 antiepileptic drugs. Maximum duration of study drug administration is 28 weeks. Eligible subjects may choose to enter the open-label extension study after completion.

This is a Phase III, multinational, open-label, non-controlled study with subjects under treatment in the double-blind BIA-2093-311 study (NCT01162460). Subjects will enter the open-label extension study after the preceding double-blind study was unblinded and they are attending their last Extension Phase Visit (EPV) of the double-blind study. For all subjects, the day of the last EPV of the double-blind study will also be the day of Visit 1 for the open-label extension study. All subjects will receive Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) under open-label conditions at Visit 1. The complete study duration including treatment with ESL under open-label conditions and follow-up is expected to last approximately 2 years (105 weeks). In case ESL as monotherapy will achieve MA prior to the end of 2017, the study may be discontinued prematurely within 42 days after achievement of MA.

This open label investigation further evaluates the safety, efficacy and potential mechanisms of action of a new form of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The investigators have recently completed preliminary open-label studies with FEAST, first at Columbia University, and then at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston (Nahas et al., 2013b). The investigators have published the outcomes of the first 17 patients studied. One patient withdrew from the study after a single titration session. After the course of FEAST (median 10 sessions), there was a 46.1 + 35.5% improvement in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD24) scores compared to baseline (33.1 + 6.8, 16.8 + 10.9; P < 0.0001). Eight of 16 patients met response criteria (≥50% decrease in HRSD24) and 5/16 met remission criteria (HRSD24≤10). Patients achieved full re-orientation (4 of 5 items correct) in 5.5 + 6.4 min (median time = 3.6 min), timed from when their eyes first opened after treatment. The investigators have now studied 18 more patients (see results below), and we are completing the study in the original IDE with another two more patients still to enroll. This work allowed us to refine the treatment. For example, the investigators selectively modified the electrode geometry to decrease interelectrode resistance. Additionally the investigators modified the titration schedule, now only administering a standard 800 ma ultrabrief pulse, and thus no longer titrating in the current domain. In this next proposed trial we will continue to gather efficacy and safety data, and compare these to a parallel non-randomized group receiving ECT standard of care. ECT is typically delivered in a dynamically adaptive manner, with each person having a different number of treatments, averaging between 8-12 treatment over 4-5 weeks. We thus have to use imprecise time points such as 'at the end of the acute treatment course' rather than specified dates or visits.