View clinical trials related to Epilepsy.
Filter by:This trial is intended to study the safety and effectiveness of an new anti-epileptic drug (AED) on Primary Generalized Tonic-Clonic (PGTC) Seizures. Eligible Subjects, adults and adolescents, will continue to take their usual AEDs and receive either cenobamate or placebo. Subjects will have a 50% chance or receiving cenobamate or placebo (sugar pill). Subjects will initially receive 12.5 mg of cenobamate or placebo (study drug) and increase the dose every two weeks until they reach a target dose of 200 mg. Subjects will take study drug at approximately the same time in the morning (once a day) with or without food. If tolerability issues arise, dosing can be changed to evening. Also, once a subject reaches 200 mg, the dose can be decreased one time to 150 mg, if necessary. The treatment period is 22 weeks and there is a 3 week follow up period, which includes a one week decrease in study drug to 100 mg prior to stopping. Adolescents will follow the same every two week regimen and receive cenobamate as an oral suspension based on weight. Subjects who complete may be eligible for an extension study and will not have to complete the follow up period. Subjects will track their seizure types and frequency in a diary throughout the study.
Background: Childhood epilepsy disorders are particular frequent in the area around Mahenge, southern Tanzania and recent studies have described a novel type of epilepsy with repetitive head nodding episodes and often progressive cognitive dysfunction. Despite the disease affecting thousands in Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan, etiology and pathogenesis of the disorder termed Nodding Syndrome (NS) is still obscure as the phenotype remains imprecisely described. Epidemiological associations with Onchocerca volvulus and Mansonella spp. were noted at different African sites and remain robust even though no evidence for the presence of O. volvulus in CSF or any previous contact with the CSF was found. Hypothesis: With regard to the complex host immune reaction to O. volvulus, the investigators hypothesize that the immune response against filariae might contribute to NS and epilepsy. The investigators further assume that specific genetic traits might play a role in the pathogenesis of NS. Aims In the present study the investigators aim to examine if and how O. volvulus and/or Mansonella spp. contribute to the pathology of NS/epilepsy and therefore intend to analyze the filarial infection and the host immune response in affected children. To identify inherited traits predisposing for epilepsy, NS or specific immune responses, a genetic workup that includes whole-exome sequencing (WES) is performed. The clinical and EEG characteristics are further defined. Cognitive impairment of people with epilepsy and NS is assessed using the Wechsler Nonverbal Scale of Ability (WNV). Study design: A cross-sectional observational (groups I-III) and a case-control (groups I-V) study recruiting in total 250 patients and controls (I: people with NS, n=50; II: people with epilepsy (PWE) and onchocerciasis, n=50; III: PWE without onchocerciasis, n=50; IV: controls with onchocerciasis but otherwise healthy, n= 50; healthy controls without evidence for onchocerciasis, n= 50) is performed to describe the clinical characteristics in children with NS/epilepsy and to evaluate differences in infection and immune response between groups, respectively. The WNV should be validated in 500 healthy controls to obtain reference data in rural Africa. Summary: In summary, the study aims to elucidate clinical characteristics and the pathogenesis of NS/epilepsy in children of southern Tanzania and role of parasitic infection as a cause for NS/epilepsy.
The main objective of MAPCOG_SEEG is to create a database including brain recordings of cognition performed in clinical routine in patients during the pre-surgical SEEG assessment. This aims to be able to propose the first atlas of human cognition with a high temporal and spatial resolution.
We aim to o evaluate the role of conventional and advanced MRI sequences in diagnosis of idiopathic temporal lobe epilepsy including identification and lateralization of epileptogenic focus.
Every year, thousands of patients worldwide with drug resistant focal epilepsy (DRE) undergo resective brain surgery with the aim of achieving seizure freedom. Despite technical advances over the last 50 years, the success rate of epilepsy surgery in terms of seizure freedom has not greatly improved, remaining overall at around 50%. Depending on features of individual cases, presurgical evaluation includes a first phase of non-invasive data including video-EEG recordings, magnetoencephalography, structural and functional neuroimaging and neuropsychological evaluation. If these investigations do not allow adequate localization of likely region of seizure organization in the brain (the epileptogenic zone, EZ), then a second invasive phase using intracerebral EEG recording may be necessary (stereoelectroencephalography, SEEG). Interpretation of SEEG remains difficult in many cases, in particular since seizure onset is often characterized by discharges that very rapidly involve several distinct brain regions. No reliable measuring instrument currently exists to combine the various prognostic factors for a given patient. This leads to great uncertainty on an individual scale in predicting the effects of surgery. The mapping of epileptic networks in patients with DRE is an innovative scientifically-validated and clinically-tested method to significantly improve accuracy of SEEG and presurgical interpretation and guide surgical strategies in patients with DRE. Therefore, the investigators developed the Virtual Epilepsy Patient software. Retrospective study already demonstrated the pertinence of this approach in improving the anatomical mapping of epileptogenic networks. Now, the investigators aim to prospectively demonstrate the role of VEP during presurgical evaluation of DRE patients
This study consist of define anatomo-functional reorganization (plasticity) profiles for the mentioned cognitive functions, before surgery (chronic plasticity induced by the epileptogenic zone) in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. For that, patients will have 2 MRI examinations, one before surgery and the second, between 3 and 8 months after surgery.
Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes is the most common type of focal epilepsy in children. It is known to be age-dependent and presumably genetic. Age of onset ranges from one to fourteen years and it represents fifteen percent to twenty five percent of epilepsy in children under 15 years of age.
Epilepsy affects 1% of the world's population and 6 million people in Europe. The estimated total cost of €20 billion in Europe in 2014 makes epilepsy a significant socioeconomic burden. Despite great progress in the management of epilepsy and increasing numbers of antiepileptic drugs, 30-40% of epilepsy patients are refractory to all available medications. Moreover, in childhood epilepsy is a causative factor of psychiatric and behavioral comorbidities, including developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder. In spite of multiple trials no reliable biomarker of epilepsy development has been identified. There are no studies on biomarkers of drug-resistance or epilepsy recurrence after the drug withdrawal. EPIMARKER is a first project, carried out in humans, which is going to examine in prospective way clinical, electroencephalographic and molecular biomarkers to produce an integrative tool useful in everyday diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in children to prevent the development of drug-resistant epilepsy and its behavioral comorbidities as mental retardation and autism. The set of molecular biomarkers will be determined by quantitative transcriptomic and proteomic studies and validated in reprogrammed cellular models.
The purpose of this study is to incorporate multidimensional self-management programs into the routine care of epilepsy patients. Consenting patients will enroll in one of four interventions that help improve medication adherence, increase seizure awareness and documentation, improve memory and deal with stress and depression.
Background: Epilepsy affects about 1 percent of the U.S. population. Most people with epilepsy respond well to medicine, but some do not. Researchers want people who have diagnosed or suspected epilepsy to participate in ongoing studies. They want to learn more about clinical care for epilepsy. They want fellows and residents to learn more about the care of people with epilepsy. Objectives: To learn more about seizures and find ways to best treat people with drug-resistant epilepsy. Eligibility: Adults and children ages 8 years and older with diagnosed or suspected epilepsy Design: Participants will be screened with: Physical exam Medical history Questionnaires Participants will have many visits. They may be admitted to the hospital for several weeks. Their medication might be stopped or changed. Participants will have many tests: Blood and urine tests EEG: Wires attached to the head with paste record brain waves. This may be videotaped. Thinking and memory tests MRI: Participants lie on a table that slides in and out of a tube. They perform simple tasks in the tube. MEG: Participants lie on a table and place their head in a helmet to record brain waves. PET scan: Participants lie on a table that slides into a machine. A small amount of radioactive dye is injected into their arm with an IV. For the IV, a small tube is inserted into the arm with a needle. Participants will stay enrolled in this study if they join other epilepsy-related studies. They may be contacted at intervals for follow-up. Their participation will end if they have not been seen clinically for their epilepsy for 3 years.