Active clinical trials for "Drug Resistant Epilepsy"

Multicenter, open-label, prospective designed study to characterize the performance of brain laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) ablation using the Monteris NeuroBlate System for the treatment of drug-refractory medial temporal lobe epilepsy in subjects who are candidates for LITT surgery.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and the safety of deep brain stimulation in drug resistant epilepsy. This is a double blind, controlled and randomized clinical trial with two cross-over groups and four phases. Phase 1 : base line, open phase consisting of follow-up of patients with their standard treatment. Phase 2 : Randomisation, lead implantation, followed by 3 months wash out period with the stimulator switch OFF. Phase 3 : cross-over, double blind phase : 3 months with stimulator switch ON or OFF depending on randomization allocation, followed by 3 months with the stimulator switch on the opposite position. The placebo consisting of turn OFF the stimulator. Phase 4 : open phase, one year follow-up of all patients with the stimulator switch ON.

This is an open-label randomized controlled tria testing if an improvement in cardiovascular fitness can improve quality of Life and reduce seizure frequency in patients with refractory epilepsy.. Before the intervention each subject will undergo an evaluation of baseline cardiovascular fitness. Patients will be randomized into two groups One group will listen to a relaxation tape 5 days per week for 6 months and the other group will receive a ergometric cycle and perform a predetermined level of exercise per day , 5 days per week for 6 months. Randomization will be conducted an external randomization center based on a sequence of random numbers. Changes in concomitant antiepileptic drugs (AED) treatment during the study will be minimized, and restricted to AED changes deemed to be necessary to address AED-related toxicity. Medical examination; body weight; fitness test, including ECG and BP measurements, seizure frequency; adverse effects (unstructured interview); details of concomitant concomitant treatment, mood assessment by using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS); health related quality of life (RAND-36), E4-data downloading, will be done at baseline and after 6 months Primary endpoint: Proportion of patients with at least 50% seizure reduction Secondary endpoints: Median percent reduction in seizure frequency, HADS score, RAND-36 score, fitness score; adverse events, changes in concomitant AED treatment, E4 data .

The purpose of this investigation is data pilot study of the effect of theta frequency stimulation of the vagus nerve on cognitive performance in patients with refractory epilepsy. We will compare the effects of no stimulation, theta frequency (5 Hz), and 'standard' beta frequency stimulation (25-30 Hz) on cognitive measures. We hypothesize that theta frequency VNS will have a positive effect on memory retention. The goal of this study to provide initial data to inform the design of a larger clinical trial to examine the efficacy of theta VNS.

This is an open trial of intermittent fasting in a group of patients with refractory seizures. Patients will continue on the diet for 6 months to assess the impact of the diet on seizure frequency.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether a low dose of CBD+THC will decrease the frequency of convulsive seizures in adults with drug-resistant epilepsy, when used in addition to standard anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). This study will also study the genes associated with epilepsy and whether different epileptic syndromes respond to treatment with CBD+THC.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the 3 selected dose regimens of padsevonil (PSL) administered concomitantly with up to 3 anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) compared with placebo for treatment of observable focal-onset seizures in subjects with drug-resistant epilepsy.

In up to 1 out of 3 patients with epilepsy, seizures continue to occur despite the use of one or more antiepileptic medications. Patients also have significant problems with side-effects of these medications as doses are increased. Our body naturally generates miniature pumps located on the surfaces of many organs to get rid of toxic substances, and antiepileptic medications can be considered by the cells of the body to be a toxin. Research with epileptic brain regions have shown an increase in the amount of drug pumps, therefore getting rid of antiepileptic drugs. One of these pumps is called p-glycoprotein (P-gp for short). Medications may be unable to penetrate and stay within the parts of the brain that need them them most. This may mean that the amount of drug is actually lower in the parts of the brain that cause seizures, and higher in the rest of the brain, which may be why patients may still feel side-effects when seizures are still occurring. Research in animals has shown that blocking the P-gp pumps can improve how bad, and how many seizures occur as well as the length of seizures. Blockage of the pumps can be done using a different type of medication. Some medications that are used for common problems have been discovered to also block P-gp pumps. One of these, carvedilol, is used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure. It has been found to be very safe in these patients, and does not have a lot of side-effects. We plan to add this medication in addition to patient's anti-seizure medications to see if it will improve epileptic seizures. The reason why some patients have high amounts of P-gp pumps and others do not may be related to their genetics. A simple blood test can be used to determine a person's potential to produce high quantities of the pumps. This study will also attempt to show that the genetics will affect how well the P-gp blocking will work.

High Resolution Imaging of Cerebral Vasculature by Functional Micro-Doppler Sonography During Brain Surgery (ULYS)

The purpose of this study is to investigate a novel stimulation protocol of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for the treatment of unifocal neocortical epilepsy, namely continuous thetaburst stimulation (cTBS). As this is a pilot study, the primary endpoint is on safety and tolerability of the treatment. However, information on clinical efficacy and mechanism of action will also be collected.