RESUMO
This six-center, retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness, tolerability, and safety of vagus nerve stimulation in children. Data were available for 125 patients at baseline, 95 patients at 3 months, 56 patients at 6 months, and 12 patients at 12 months. The typical patient, aged 12 years, had onset of seizures at age 2 years and had tried nine anticonvulsants before implantation. Collected data included preimplant history, seizures, implant, device settings, quality of life, and adverse events. Average seizure reduction was 36.1% at 3 months and 44.7% at 6 months. Common adverse events included voice alteration and coughing during stimulation. Rare adverse events, unique to this age group, included increased drooling and increased hyperactivity. Quality of life improved in alertness, verbal communication, school performance, clustering of seizures, and postictal periods. We concluded that vagus nerve stimulation is an effective treatment for medically refractory epilepsy in children.
Assuntos
Terapia por Estimulação Elétrica/métodos , Epilepsia/terapia , Nervo Vago , Adolescente , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Tosse/etiologia , Terapia por Estimulação Elétrica/efeitos adversos , Eletrodos Implantados , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Qualidade de Vida , Estudos Retrospectivos , Sialorreia/etiologia , Distúrbios da Voz/etiologiaRESUMO
An entity including gelastic epilepsy, precocious puberty, polydactyly and a hypothalamic hamartoma type IIa is described in a 16-year-old female patient. Polydactyly was detected at birth, she developed precocious puberty at four years of age, and gelastic epilepsy was diagnosed at age seven. The precocious puberty was successfully treated medically and her treatment was discontinued at the age of 10 years, but the gelastic seizures were difficult to control. When the patient was 11 years old, MRI revealed a hypothalamic hamartoma. The combination of these four features is very rare in the literature.