Active clinical trials for "Epilepsy"

The purpose of this study is to determine whether patients with uncontrolled epilepsy can follow a low carbohydrate diet long-term and if so, how will that diet affect their seizures

The purpose of this study is to assess whether changing antiepileptic medication can reduce side effects and improve the quality of life in patients with epileptic seizures that are well controlled with antiepileptic drugs.

Most patients are prescribed valproate as their first antiepileptic drug. It is unknown which is the best second-line drug when patients do not become seizure free on valproate. This has led the Dutch Epilepsy Clinics Foundation (SEIN) to start the SLICE study. Adult patients with partial and/or tonic-clonic seizures, insufficiently responding to valproate, are recruited for this study. These patients are randomized to receive one of three other drugs. Patients wil initially use this drug next to valproate. Neurologists of more than 20 general hospitals en neurologists of SEIN are participating in this study.

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 purpose of this study is to determine whether transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation as a complementary therapy is effective in the treatment of pediatric 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.

The proposed study is designed to evaluate the performance of the Neuronaute in comparison with the gold standard EEG in patients with a regular appointment at the hospital. The design of this study is guided by two overriding factors : (i) epileptics disorders suspected or either (ii) epileptics already diagnosed. Volunteers will be asked to participate to this study. This study will enroll 35 outpatient subjects aged 18 to 85. Informed consent will be obtained from the patients, and assent from the subjects, prior to any form of assessment or intervention as part of the study. Patients will be submitted to the studied device record Neuronaute following by the gold standard EEG. A grid with all EEG activity recorded during the trial will be provided for evaluation after completion of the trial.

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.

This is a multicenter, prospective, 2-year observational study in infants and children with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEEs). The DEE currently being investigated is SCN1A-positive Dravet Syndrome.

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.