Surgery May Help Some Kids with SYNGAP1 Epilepsy
Source: Epilepsy research
Summary
This study looked at children with a specific genetic condition called SYNGAP1-related developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE), which causes severe developmental issues and epilepsy. Researchers reviewed medical records of 185 children with this condition, focusing on those who had undergone two types of surgical treatments: corpus callosotomy (CC) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). Out of the 185 children, 156 had epilepsy, and 15 of them had received one of these palliative procedures.
The findings showed that VNS, which involves stimulating the vagus nerve to help control seizures, was performed on 11 children. About 64% of these children experienced a significant reduction in seizures, but the effectiveness varied over time. In contrast, two children who had only CC showed promising results, with one becoming seizure-free and the other having a significant reduction in seizures. Overall, CC seemed to be more effective than VNS for those few who received it.
These results are important because they provide insights into potential treatments for children with SYNGAP1-related DEE, a condition that currently has limited treatment options. However, the study has some limitations, including the small number of children who underwent these procedures, which makes it hard to draw strong conclusions. More research with larger groups of children is needed to better understand how effective these treatments are for managing seizures in this specific population.
