View clinical trials related to Epilepsy.
Filter by:The purpose of this research study is to determine if the blood tests used to measure free thyroid hormone levels are affected by a drug called eslicarbazepine acetate. To determine if eslicarbazepine acetate interferes with these blood tests, blood samples will be analysed so that researchers can compare different types of lab tests that measure these thyroid hormones. Half of the people who participate in this study will already be taking eslicarbazepine acetate either as a study drug or as a prescription (Part 1) and the other half will be people who do not take eslicarbazepine acetate (Part 2).
Previous studies have shown that women on anti-seizure medications are not informed about the pharmaceutical drug interactions between anti-seizure medications (antiepileptic drugs, AEDs) and certain hormonal contraceptive. The goal of this proposed study is to develop and assess the efficacy of an educational handout for participants on the ways AEDs and certain hormonal contraceptives can interact to alter effectiveness of the medications. Reproductive age women (18-45 years old) will be recruited from UCSD Health System Epilepsy clinics. If a patient agrees to participate, she will be given a knowledge exam prior to the clinic appointment to establish baseline understanding of hormonal contraceptive and AED interactions and then the participant will be randomized to receive the intervention (educational handout) or the standard of care (no educational handout). Those in participants in the intervention group will read an educational handout on hormonal contraceptives/AED interactions. Those in the standard care group will not receive this handout and the same knowledge exam will be re-administered to all of the participants after they have completed their appointments to check for knowledge comprehension and short-term knowledge retention. A same-day post-test questionnaire will evaluate participant's intention to discuss hormonal contraceptives/AED interactions with their gynecologist, neurologist or primary care physician.
This is a Phase III, multinational, open-label, non-controlled study with subjects under treatment in the double-blind BIA-2093-311 study (NCT01162460). Subjects will enter the open-label extension study after the preceding double-blind study was unblinded and they are attending their last Extension Phase Visit (EPV) of the double-blind study. For all subjects, the day of the last EPV of the double-blind study will also be the day of Visit 1 for the open-label extension study. All subjects will receive Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) under open-label conditions at Visit 1. The complete study duration including treatment with ESL under open-label conditions and follow-up is expected to last approximately 2 years (105 weeks). In case ESL as monotherapy will achieve MA prior to the end of 2017, the study may be discontinued prematurely within 42 days after achievement of MA.
The purpose of this trial is to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of lacosamide administered as add-on therapy with 1 to 3 anti-seizure medications. This trial is for children aged 1 month to less than 4 years with epilepsy who currently have uncontrolled partial-onset seizures.
Epilepsy is disabling and costly to patients and the health service. Nearly 400,000 people in England suffer from epilepsy. About 40% of these patients are known to have seizures predominantly in sleep. All seizures pose risk to the individual both physical and psychological. Nocturnal seizures pose extra risk as the diagnosis may be missed or delayed. Patients with nocturnal seizures are also thought to be at particular risk of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), especially if their seizures are unobserved. In patients with poor seizure control, the risk of SUDEP has been found to be as high as 9 per 1,000 patient years. Previous studies show that many seizures are associated with changes in the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) tone. The ANS tone can be assessed using heart rate variability parameters (HRV). A few studies suggest that ANS tone changes tend to precede the onset of epileptic seizure related surface electroencephalographic (EEG) changes, suggesting that ANS tone changes could be used in seizure alarm or intervention systems. This prospective study intends to focus on seizures from sleep and study HRV parameters in the immediate preictal state of the seizure and compare these with resting HRV parameters in the same patient with the aim of finding HRV metrics which could help to identify the presence of seizures in longterm electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings, or help predict seizure occurrence, or provide information about the current risk of seizures. This study will also investigate whether there are differences in the alterations of HRV parameters between different forms of epilepsy and whether seizure lateralisation has an impact on HRV parameters.
Drug-resistant partial epilepsy has a heavy impact on quality of life and sometimes on life expectancy itself. Only a minority of patients may benefit from a curative epilepsy surgery. Neurostimulation, which can be an effective add-on treatment, is currently mainly represented by vagus nervus stimulation. Transcranial direct current stimulation, a non -invasive technique already used in other areas of neurology, may be efficient on some partial epilepsies, in particular through the individual configuration of stimulation, made possible by recent technological advances. Main goal : To study the effect of transcranial electrical stimulation on the frequency of seizures in patients with drug-resistant partial epilepsy. Hypothesis : Reduction of 50% or more in the frequency of occurrence of seizures within 24 hours following an individually configured TDCS session: responders in real TDCS vs placebo stimulation.
Background: Epilepsy and nonepileptic attack disorder (NEAD) are chronic conditions that cause many patients to experience a great degree of stress in their everyday lives. Patients have also reported stress as the commonest trigger of their seizures, and animal studies suggest that stress can make seizures worse. A self-help intervention that would help people manage the stress they experience could therefore improve their quality of life and have positive effects on the frequency of their seizures. Research Question: The study evaluates whether a self-help intervention in the form of a brief booklet can improve the quality of life and reduce the levels of stress of people who experience seizures. In addition, the study will explore the associations between seizure severity and frequency, physiological and self-reported stress, and anxiety and depression. Design: The researchers are recruiting patients attending the Outpatient Neurology Clinic at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and measure their quality of life and stress levels before, one month and two months after they have been given the self-help stress reduction booklet. The researchers will measure the changes in quality of life and stress levels using questionnaires and saliva samples.
The purpose of this research study is to measure current flow inside the head using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The data from this study will be used to map the current flow caused from the electrical stimulation inside the head. The methods develop will be used to map and better control delivery of the current for electrical stimulation to modify a psychiatric condition such as depression; or other conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease or autism.
The purpose of this study is to measure if the drug called Everolimus effects mTOR signaling (an electrical activity signal in the brain) in patients with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and Focal Cortical Dysplasia (FCD) with treatment resistant epilepsy (TRE) who will be undergoing brain surgery. One group of patients will be treated with Everolimus, and another will not. Researchers will determine if there is a difference in mTOR signaling between the patients who were treated with Everolimus and those who were not. Previous studies have suggested that Everolimus may reduce seizure activity in TSC patients by decreasing mTOR signaling. Since patients with FCD may also have excess mTOR signaling brain activity, Everolimus may also reduce seizure activity in these patients. The drug Everolimus is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat specific types of breast, pancreatic, and kidney cancer, a kidney tumor called an angiomyolipoma (common in patients with TSC), and TSC patients who have a brain tumor called a subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA). However, in this research it is considered to be an investigational since it is not approved for reduction in mTOR signaling and a decrease in seizure frequency. Researchers believe that Everolimus may be useful in reducing something called cortical hyperexcitability, which is the excess brain activity that can contribute to seizures.
Legislation to allow medical marijuana has had a significant impact on the pediatric population of Colorado. There have been many reported different effects and properties of each of the over 60 known cannabinoids found in marijuana. The main exposures in pediatrics have involved the use of Cannabidiol (CBD) high- and Tetrahydrocannibinol (THC) low-content hash oil in children with epilepsy. The reported benefit of this oil is to have the anticonvulsant properties of CBD without the psychoactive components of THC. Human studies on the efficacy of CBD on epilepsy are few and limited. The investigators' specific aims are the following: - Specific Aim 1: Describe the plasma pharmacokinetics of Cannabidiol (CBD), Tetrahydrocannibinol (THC), and their respective metabolites in pediatric patients with epilepsy. - Specific Aim 2: Describe the plasma pharmacokinetics of other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) taken in conjunction with CBD in order to evaluate drug interactions. - Specific Aim 3: Describe parental perception of efficacy of CBD on control of epilepsy. The investigators will recruit children and their parents who are currently using or plan to use CBD for their seizure disorder. This study will NOT be providing patients with CBD. Consenting subjects will undergo a number of blood and urine collection that will be analyzed to describe the pharmacokinetics and possible drug interactions of CBD in pediatric epilepsy.