Active clinical trials for "Drug Resistant Epilepsy"

Comparison of the efficacy of Rituximab and ketogenic diet in controlling refractory seizures versus the traditional lines as corticosteroid and trace elements. Improving the management of children with refractory seizures

Epilepsy is a frequent cause of morbidity in the pediatric age group. Many catastrophic epilepsies present during infancy and childhood1. Seizures in these epileptic disorders are difficult to control; sometimes only at the expense of multiple and toxic levels of antiepileptic medications. The shortcomings of antiepileptic drug therapy and epilepsy surgery warrants the need for alternative treatments. Ketogenic diet is effective for refractory epilepsies (33% of patients with refractory epilepsy have more than 50% reduction in seizures from the baseline and 15-20% become seizure free) and has gained widespread acceptance. Low glycemic index diet treatment (LGIT) is designed as a variant of ketogenic diet. There are retrospective studies on LGIT in childhood refractory epilepsy reporting seizure reduction comparable to that of patients on ketogenic diet. There have been no randomized controlled trials assessing the efficacy of the low glycemic index diet in refractory epilepsy. In this study we plan to assess the efficacy of LGIT among children with drug refractory epilepsy.

The ketogenic diet is a non-pharmacological treatment prescribed especially for children and indicated in most specialized centers for patients with refractory epilepsy. The composition of the ketogenic diet is based on high-fat, low-carbohydrate, moderate protein content, and the production of ketone bodies is the probable mechanism involved in the control of seizures. The relationship between the treatment of the ketogenic diet and changes in oxidative characteristics, physical and lipid are not well established. Some studies show a significant increase in total cholesterol and triglycerides in children being treated with ketogenic diet, but other studies have shown that changes in lipid profile in the long term do not appear to be significant, beyond the influence of these changes on coronary heart disease are unknown. The studies performed in the last two decades have shown that besides the changes in the lipid profile, oxidative modification of lipoproteins are essential for the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and physical properties of lipoproteins also appear to be involved in this process, suggesting that the particle size of lipoproteins, through the analysis of subfractions can provide more details of the cardiovascular risk. Thus, this projetct aims to compare the effects of the classical ketogenic diet with the ketogenic diet modified with lower content of saturated fatty acids and a higher content of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, the oxidative changes of LDL, lipidomic profile, the concentration of antioxidants in production inflammatory cytokines and the subfractions of LDL and HDL in children and adolescents with refractory epilepsy, the clinical effect on controlling epilepsy.

The assumption of the unpredictability of seizures may have an enormous impact on the perception of self-efficacy and may contribute more to a patient's poor quality-of-life than the actual seizures. Patients with epilepsy are especially susceptible to the influence of the arbitrary nature of this condition on socialization,education,and the formation of self-identity. Consequentially, the psychosocial and psychological aftermath is likely to be observed even in individuals with well-controlled seizures. The relationship between seizure occurrence and the effects of having epileptic seizures on quality of life can be characterized as reciprocal; e.g. emotional stress is not only a result of having seizures; it is also the most frequently reported seizure precipitant. Whereas behavioral interventions have repeatedly been considered as the third pillar of the treatment of epilepsy, the main focus still remains on passive seizure control per pharmacological and surgical interventions, which may further aggravate victimization. Outcome after epilepsy surgery is closely correlated with pre-surgical characteristics. Consequentially, there is an upsurge of interest in the medical community for research on non-pharmacologic interventions to facilitate the transition from chronically sick to well with preventive therapeutic interventions in the context of habitual seizures. The Andrews/Reiter (AR) approach to epilepsy is a systematic counseling intervention that assists the individual to identify seizure warning signs,seizure precipitants and general life stressors in order to develop strategies of active seizure control and improve self-defined life quality. Literature review indicates that AR represents the most comprehensively developed psychological approach. The proposed trial will address the question if AR decreases seizure frequency and psychopathologic comorbidities and increases seizure self-efficacy and overall quality of life in patients with medically intractable epilepsy.

This study will consider the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate protein) in treating epilepsy. Investigators enroll a group of eligible epileptic children and adolescent who have been referred from epilepsy center to our clinic and prescribe them ketogenic diet.

Multicenter, open-label, prospective designed study to characterize the performance of MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy (MgLiTT) using the Sinovation Laser Ablation System for the treatment of medical refractory epilepsy.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases all over the world. Currently, about 70 million people have epilepsy worldwide. In particular, more than 30% of epilepsy patients still have seizures even though they are treated with appropriate anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). This number has remained unchanged even after more than 20 years with many new anti-epileptic drugs being introduced. According to International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), drug-resistant epilepsy is defined when a patient does not achieve seizure-free the seizure with two optimal antiepileptic drugs. This clinical trial is designed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of thread-embedding acupuncture (TEA) as palliative treatment of drug resistant epilepsy.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation in the management of seizures in subjects with focal refractory epilepsy.

Although corticosteroids have been shown to be beneficial anecdotally for refractory epilepsy, the effects of corticosteroids on pediatric epilepsy have primarily been studied retrospectively amongst a heterogeneous patient population. The objective of this prospective cross-over study is to determine the effect of oral steroids on convulsive seizure frequency and evaluate the tolerability of pulsed oral steroids. Participants will be prospectively enrolled from pediatric neurology clinic at Children's Hospital of New Orleans, and baseline seizure frequency will be assessed. Participants will then be randomized to receive either the study drug, methylprednisolone, or placebo during the first month, followed by a one-month wash-out period. During the third month of the study, participants will enter the cross-over phase of the study where those who received methylprednisolone will receive placebo, and those who received placebo will receive methylprednisolone. The primary outcome will be the percentage of patients with 50% or more reduction in seizure frequency following one course of oral methylprednisolone. frequency following 1 course of oral methylprednisolone.

The study evaluates the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of Vorinostat in addition to standard of care anti-epileptic drugs in pediatric patients with medically refractory epilepsy. All participants entering the treatment phase will receive Vorinostat.