Efficacy of supplemental MCT oil on seizure reduction of adult drug-resistant epilepsy - a single-center open-label pilot study.

OBJECTIVE: We set out to determine whether adding medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil as a dietary supplement to standard diet in adult subjects with intractable epilepsy in a U.S. neurology clinical practice was associated with a reduction in number of seizures. We secondarily aimed to determine whether subjects experienced any side effects and whether there was a presence of urinary ketones while using MCT oil as a dietary supplement. METHODS: Adult patients with intractable epilepsy were recruited at standard of care clinical visits with their epileptologist. Once enrolled, subjects were instructed to supplement their diet with MCT oil as tolerated twice daily for three months (including a 1-2 week titration period, followed by a 1-2 week tapering off window) while keeping a seizure diary to record total number of seizures, presence of urinary ketones, and any side effects. RESULTS: Our data although limited by small sample size, shows that there is an estimated 42% reduction (p < 0.0001) in the rate of seizures. The MCT oil supplementation was well tolerated by most subjects except for minor GI side effects like nausea and loose stools. Most subjects developed ketones in their urine at some point during the trial. CONCLUSIONS: MCT oil supplementation reduced seizure frequency in study participants. The reported side effects included mild nausea, stomachache, loose stools. A placebo-controlled study will be more informative.

Design and Implementation of Structured Clinical Documentation Support Tools for Treating Stroke Patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Standardized electronic medical record tools provide an opportunity to efficiently provide care that conforms to Best Practices and supports quality improvement and practice-based research initiatives. METHODS: We describe the development of a customized structured clinical documentation "toolkit" that standardizes patient data collection to conform to Best Practices for treating patients with stroke. The toolkit collects patients' demographic information, relevant score test measures, and captures information on disability, treatment, and outcomes. RESULTS: We describe here our creation and implementation of the toolkits and provide example screenshots. As of August 1, 2018, we have evaluated 2332 patients at an initial visit for a possible stroke. We provide basic descriptive data gathered from the use of the toolkits, demonstrating their utility in collecting patient data in a manner that supports both quality clinical care and research initiatives. CONCLUSIONS: We have developed an EMR toolkit to support Best Practices in the care of patients with stroke. We discuss quality improvement projects and current research initiatives using the toolkit. This toolkit is being shared with other Departments of Neurology as part of the Neurology Practice-Based Research Network.