Active clinical trials for "Epilepsy"

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are the main therapeutic option for patients with epilepsy; however, complete seizure control remains elusive for many patients. Uncontrolled or refractory epilepsy is associated with a higher risk of mortality, physical injuries, and depression or anxiety compared with patients with controlled epilepsy. Higher resource utilization for patients with poor control is likely to be associated with higher economic costs. While diagnostic criteria for uncontrolled epilepsy are debated by neurologists, recent studies suggest that a diagnosis of uncontrolled epilepsy requires 1.) at least one seizure per month and 2.) a history of drug failures. The objective of this study is to identify patients with uncontrolled epilepsy in both a Medicaid database and a private health plan database, to describe patient characteristics and AED treatment patterns between cohorts of patients with uncontrolled versus well-controlled epilepsy, and to evaluate the economic burden of uncontrolled versus well-controlled epilepsy. For this evaluation, the data sources are medical and pharmacy claims in Medicaid databases from Florida (Third quarter 1997 to second quarter 2008), Iowa (First quarter 1998 to second quarter 2006), Kansas (First quarter 2001 to second quarter 2009), Missouri (First quarter 1997 to second quarter 2008) and New Jersey (First quarter 1997 to fourth quarter 2008) and medical and pharmacy claims in an private health plan database. The study design is a retrospective, longitudinal, matched-cohort study. Eligible patient records will be assigned to one of three mutually-exclusive cohorts: uncontrolled epilepsy (at least 2 consecutive changes in AED therapy in at least 30 days, and at least 1 epilepsy-related inpatient or emergency department (ED) visit within 365 days), well-controlled epilepsy (no AED changes and no epilepsy-related inpatient or ED visits), and intermediate epilepsy (not classified as uncontrolled or well-controlled).

Our study examines which different brain regions are involved in child absence seizures and how they are related to attention and cognition.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence, characteristics and classification of headaches in epileptic patients.

Angiographies of the supra-aortic vessels by magnetic imaging have become common recently. So it was the purpose of this study to evaluate the imaging potential of different contrast agents. Three contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging are compared in angiographies of the supra-aortic arteries in a intraindividual study of 10 patients. All applications of these contrast agents are performed with a flow of 2 ml/s. One contrast medium is applicated a second time with a reduced flow of 1 ml/s. The angiographies of the supra-aortic vessels are evaluated by two experienced readers in a consensus reading. The signal/noise- and contrast/noise-ratio of anatomic vessel segments of the carotic and vertebral arteries are measured and compared to each other.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technique used to investigate the functional activity of the brain. The PET technique allows doctors to study the normal processes of the brain (central nervous system) of normal individuals and patients with neurologic illnesses without physical / structural damage to the brain. When a region of the brain is active, it uses more fuel in the form of oxygen and sugar (glucose). As the brain uses more fuel it produces more waste products, carbon dioxide and water. Blood carries fuel to the brain and waste products away from the brain. As brain activity increases blood flow to and from the area of activity increases also. Knowing these facts, researchers can use radioactive water (H215O) and PET scans to observe what areas of the brain are receiving more blood flow. This study is designed to use positron emission tomography (PET) with radioactive water (H215O) to determine the areas of the brain associated with memory and language. Patients participating in the study will be made up of normal volunteers, patients with epilepsy, and patients with other abnormalities related to the surface of the brain (non-epileptic focal cortical dysfunctions).

Many families of children with medically refractory epilepsy are choosing to use medicinal cannabinoids (MCBD) as an adjunctive alternative treatment option. The safety, tolerability and efficacy of these products are not known. The primary objective of this study is to determine how the use of MCBD affects children with medically refractory epilepsy in an observational study. Measures of evaluation to be used will include: laboratory values, developmental measures, seizure diaries and serial electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings.

The present study aims to expand the evidence base of neuropsychological services in the context of medical management of epilepsy, examining whether treatment outcome and patient satisfaction with medical care are significantly improved when neuropsychological evaluation is included as an additional component of medical care within a comprehensive epilepsy center. All participants will complete an initial survey and a follow-up survey regarding views towards their epilepsy treatment. Participants will be randomized into one of two groups. One group will be given a neuropsychological battery in addition to the survey. The primary study hypothesis is that the addition of neuropsychological services to treatment-as-usual will result in significant improvements in (a) satisfaction with medical care, (b) patient perceived treatment outcome, and (c) physician-rated medical compliance. The secondary hypothesis is that participants who undergo neuropsychological evaluation will be generally satisfied with their experience with neuropsychological services.

The initial goal is to ascertain the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of CBD (cannabidiol) after a single dose of CBDE (cannabidiol extract), although the plan is to extend these studies to multiple dose administrations in the future, since it is likely that (cannabidiol) and/or its metabolites will show some accumulation. These studies will provide detailed information that will inform the continuation and expansion of CBDE in other research projects.

The aim of the study is to evaluate safety and efficacy of epilepsy surgery in the form of cortical resections in patients with refractory epilepsy and to review outcomes of resection procedures in focal epilepsy.

Surgery may be an effective therapy for refractory focal epilepsies with a clear delineated focus but surgical benefits are less clear for patients with a poorly defined focus such as non lesional refractory partial epilepsies. SEEG is considered the criterion standard to localize the epileptogenic zone (EZ) but the procedure is risky with a limited spatial sampling. The development of non-invasive neuroimaging alternatives is thus an important goal to improve EZ delineation and optimize SEEG procedures. The main hypothesis of this research project is the existence of a network organization specific for each patient which allows the generation and propagation of epileptic activities. The investigators wish to explore this network using diffusion tensor MRI to study structural connectivity and MEG/FMRI to study functional connectivity. The investigators will apply tools from the theories of complex networks and dynamical systems to characterize the network organization of epileptic process. The investigators aimed to identify and localize differences in connectivity parameters between individual patients and a control group of healthy volunteers.