View clinical trials related to Epilepsy.
Filter by:Twenty to thirty percent of children with epilepsy continue to suffer from seizures, even when treated with currently available anticonvulsant medications. Children with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) are particularly handicapped by atonic-myoclonic seizures. Preliminary data suggest that even when other medications have failed, these seizures may respond rapidly and dramatically to a high-fat-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet. The purpose of the study is to assess if the classic ketogenic diet is efficacious in reducing seizure frequency, medication toxicity, and improves quality of life.
This is a study to see if vitamin E helps children with epilepsy have fewer seizures. About 20-30% of children with epilepsy do not have adequate seizure control with established antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Other options for patients with uncontrolled epilepsy are newer antiepileptic medications, ketogenic diet and surgery. However, a small percentage of patients are candidates for these options. Therefore, additional treatments are needed to improve seizure control in patients with uncontrolled epilepsy. Animal studies have shown an association between vitamin E supplementation and seizure reduction. A study in children also showed that vitamin E helped reduce seizures. However, a similar study in adults did not show a reduction in seizures with vitamin E supplementation. Therefore, this research study is being done to help define vitamin E's usefulness and safety as a treatment for epilepsy. Fifty patients will be recruited from the Children's Epilepsy Program at The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Qualifying patients will have a confirmed diagnosis of epilepsy that is currently uncontrolled with standard AEDs. The study period is 6 months and includes the following: Baseline period (1 month), Arm I (2 months), Wash-out period (1 month), and Arm II (2 months). Patients must have been on the same AEDs for 2 months before enrollment. All medications and complementary therapies must remain constant throughout the study. If at any point the physician feels it is not best for the patient to continue the study they will be discontinued. Before the study starts, study participants will be asked about seizure activity, what they eat and about any complementary and/or alternative medicine they may use. The study is two phases. Study participants will be given either vitamin E or placebo (fake pill/liquid) in each phase of the study. They will receive both vitamin E and placebo during the study. Which phase they receive vitamin E and placebo will be decided by chance (similar to rolling dice). Study participants will take liquid vitamin E or placebo two times per day. The study participants and study doctors will not know who is taking vitamin E and who is taking placebo. Study participants will come to the hospital for 3 outpatient and 2 inpatient visits. Health-related quality of life questionnaires will be filled out and blood will be drawn at three of the visits. Seizure diaries will be maintained throughout the study.
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine the effect of antiparasitic treatment with albendazole on the severity and duration of epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis. II. Determine the effect of a short course of albendazole on Taenia solium cysts present in the brain. III. Determine the natural regression of cerebral T. solium cysts in patients given placebo and their response to treatment at the end of the study.
Patients in this study will undergo PET scans (a type of nuclear imaging test) to look for abnormalities in certain brain proteins associated with seizures. Studies in animals have shown that serotonin-a chemical messenger produced by the body-attaches to proteins on brain cells called 5HT1A receptors and changes them in some way that may help control seizures. There is little information on these changes, however. A new compound that is highly sensitive to 5HT1A, will be used in PET imaging to measure the level of activity of these receptors and try to detect abnormalities. Changes in receptor activity may help determine where in the brain the seizures are originating. Additional PET scans will be done to measure the amount of blood flow to the brain and the rate at which the brain uses glucose-a sugar that is the brain's main fuel. Blood flow measurement is used to calculate the distribution of serotonin receptors, and glucose use helps determine how seizures affect brain function. The information gained from the study will be used to try to help guide the patient's therapy and determine if surgery might be beneficial in controlling the patient's seizures.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may be able to provide a moderately detailed localization of language functions in the brain. We propose to test the ability of rTMS to locate the substrate of visual naming to a limited area of the temporal lobe in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy before and after surgical resections. The study is expected to yield information on the organization of language in the temporal lobes and how unilateral temporal lobe lesions and lobectomy cause relocation of language mechanisms in the lesioned and in the other hemisphere. It will also be a preliminary step in the development of a clinically useful procedure for locating critical language areas in potential surgical candidates.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique that can be used to stimulate brain activity and gather information about brain function. It is very useful when studying the areas of the brain related to motor activity (motor cortex, corticospinal tract, and corpus callosum). Epilepsy is a condition associated with seizures as a result of an over excitable cerebral cortex. Despite the introduction of several new antiepileptic medications, less than half of the patients diagnosed with partial epilepsy are well controlled. However, studies have shown that non-invasive stimulation of the brain can decrease the excitability of the cerebral cortex. Researchers are interested in the potential therapeutic effects of TMS on patients with epilepsy that have responded poorly to standard medication. This study will use TMS to decrease the excitability of the areas of the brain responsible for seizures.
It is extremely important to identify and distinguish healthy brain tissue from diseased brain tissue during neurosurgery. If normal tissue is damaged during neurosurgery it can result in long term neurological problems for the patient. The brain tissue as it appears prior to the operation on CT scan and MRI is occasionally very different from how it appears during the actual operation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop diagnostic procedures that can be used during the operation Presently, the techniques used for intraoperative mapping of the brain are not reliable in all cases in which they are used. Researchers in this study have developed a new approach that may allow diseased brain tissue to be located during an operation with little risk. This new approach uses nfrared technology to locate the diseased tissue and identify healthy brain tissue. The goal of this study is to investigate the clinical use of intraoperative infrared (IR) neuroimaging to locate diseased tissue and distinguish it from normal functioning tissue during the operation.
This study is designed to test the effects of vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl-GABA) an experimental drug used for the treatment of epilepsy. The study will use positron emission tomography (PET scan) to detect areas of the brain receiving increased blood flow and using increased amounts of glucose. Increases in blood flow and glucose use are good indicators of brain activity. Researchers are interested in determining the effects of Vigabatrin on brain blood flow and glucose use.
Researchers are interested in studying if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is practical for locating the areas of the brain associated with language in children with epilepsy. When a region of the brain is active, it uses more fuel in the form of oxygen and sugar (glucose). As the brain uses more fuel it produces more waste products, carbon dioxide and water. Blood carries fuel to the brain and waste products away from the brain. As brain activity increases blood flow to and from the area of activity increases also. Patients participating in the study will be asked to perform tasks designed to test language skills while undergoing an MRI to detect areas of the brain using oxygen and receiving blood flow.
This study is designed to use positron emission tomography to measure brain energy use. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technique used to investigate the functional activity of the brain. The PET technique allows doctors to study the normal processes of the brain (central nervous system) of normal individuals and patients with neurologic illnesses without physical / structural damage to the brain. When a region of the brain is active, it uses more fuel in the form of oxygen and sugar (glucose). As the brain uses more fuel it produces more waste products, carbon dioxide and water. Blood carries fuel to the brain and waste products away from the brain. As brain activity increases blood flow to and from the area of activity increases also. Researchers can label a sugar with a small radioactive molecule called FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose). As areas of the brain use more sugar the PET scan will detect the FDG and show the areas of the brain that are active. By using this technique researchers hope to answer the following questions; 4. Are changes in brain energy use (metabolism) present early in the course of epilepsy 5. Do changes in brain metabolism match the severity of patient's seizures 6. Do changes in metabolism occur over time or in response to drug therapy