Vagus Nerve Stimulation Shows Promise for Kids with Epilepsy
⚠️ Infant dosing/safety: medication and diet decisions for infants require individualized medical guidance.
Source: Frontiers in neurology
Summary
A study was conducted to look at how effective vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is for treating children with hard-to-control epilepsy, specifically those who have myoclonic seizures. The research took place at a specialized pediatric center and involved 19 children, aged between 2 and 14 years. All the children had already tried multiple anti-seizure medications without success, and their seizures were confirmed through video monitoring.
The results showed that VNS could help many of these children. More than half of the participants (about 53%) experienced a significant reduction in their seizures, with some even becoming completely seizure-free. Specifically, around 32% of the children with myoclonic seizures stopped having them altogether. This suggests that VNS might be a beneficial treatment option for children struggling with this type of epilepsy.
These findings are important because they indicate that VNS could be a safe and effective option for managing myoclonic seizures in children who have not responded well to other treatments. However, it's worth noting that this study involved a small group of children and was conducted at a single center, which means more research is needed to confirm these results and understand how VNS works for a broader population.
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