BACKGROUND The ketogenic diet is an effective non-pharmacologic treatment for medically resistant epilepsy. The aim of this study was to identify any predictors that may influence the response of ketogenic diet. METHODS A retrospective chart review for all patients with medically resistant epilepsy was performed at a tertiary care epilepsy center from 1996 to 2012. Patient- and diet-related v...

Epilepsy is the third most common chronic brain disorder which is characterized by an enduring predisposition to generate seizures. Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (MTLE) is the most common type of refractory epilepsy. Increasing evidence indicates that neuroinflammation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of MTLE. Hundreds of micro-RNAs have been found to be abnormally expressed in epilept...

The ketogenic diets (KDs) have been used for the treatment of medication-resistant epilepsy since the 1920s. The classical KD is a highly restrictive diet with a 3:1-4:1 ketogenic ratio, calculated as the weight of fat divided by that of carbohydrates plus protein. Although the classical KD result in at least a 50% reduction in seizure frequency in approximately half of epileptic patients, some...

Ketogenic diet (KD) was usually tried as a last resort in the treatment of intractable epilepsy after failure of many antiepileptics and even epilepsy surgery. Glucose transporter-1 deficiency and pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency must be treated with KD as the first choice because of inborn errors of glucose metabolism. Infantile spasms, tuberous sclerosis complex, Rett syndrome, Doose syndrom...

BACKGROUND Intellectual disability (ID) is relatively common in people with epilepsy, with prevalence estimated to be around 25%. Surprisingly, given this relatively high frequency, along with higher rates of refractory epilepsy than in those without ID, little is known about outcomes of different management approaches/clinical services treating epilepsy in adults with ID-we investigate this ar...

PURPOSE This study is designed to estimate the prevalence of epilepsy associated with TSC in Sweden and to describe treatment, morbidity, and mortality of TSC patients with epilepsy. METHODS Register data for 2004-2014 was obtained from the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden. Patients with TSC were identified using ICD-10 codes. Epilepsy was identified using ICD-10 codes, interven...

The hippocampus is prone to epileptic seizures and is a key brain region and experimental platform for investigating mechanisms associated with the abnormal neuronal excitability that characterizes a seizure. Accordingly, the hippocampal slice is a common in vitro model to study treatments that may prevent or reduce seizure activity. The ketogenic diet is a metabolic therapy used to treat epile...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a widely used therapeutic option of drug-refractory psychiatric disorders. ECT treats symptoms by inducing brief controlled seizures through electrical stimulation, but does not generally cause prolonged or epilepsy. However, several studies have reported cases after ECT. This review aimed to determine the mechanism epileptogenesis with neurobiological changes...

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of the use of immunoglobulin in patients with refractory epilepsy. Methods: Twenty patients with refractory epilepsy were treated with immunoglobulin therapy. Results: Five patients became free from seizures. Thirteen patients improved 50-80% and two patients had no reduction in number of seizures. Conclusions: All patients benefited significantly a...

According to the American Epilepsy Society, more than three million Americans live with epilepsy [1]. Availability of numerous antiepileptic drugs has not substantially reduced the proportion of patients with medically refractory epilepsy. Their quality of life and therapeutic response to currently available medications remains poor. Patients need new treatments that control seizures and have f...