1.Clinical investigation of vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy
Qiang-Qiang LIU ; Ji-Wen XU ; Xin TIAN ; Gui-Shong WANG ; Hong-Yu ZHOU ; Chen-Jie ZHAO
Chinese Journal of Neuromedicine 2012;11(10):973-976
Objective To explore the effectiveness and surgical procedures of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.Methods Fourteen patients with drug-resistant epilepsy,admitted to our hospital from January 2007 to January 2011,including 6 with epilepsy after cephalitis,3 with epilepsy after head trauma and 5 with idiopathic epilepsy,were chosen in our study; their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.VNS was performed in all the patients; the initial programming settings were as follows:output current 0.25 mA,frequency 30 Hz,pluse width 500 μs,ON 30 s and OFF 5 min.The optimum settings for each patient should balance the goals of maximizing efficacy,minimizing side effects,and preserving better life.Results The patients experienced a median seizure frequency reduction of 63.6% after 6-44 months of VNS therapy,including 3 patients having <50% seizure reduction,11 (78.6%) having >or=50% seizure reduction,6 (42.3%)having >80% seizure reduction,and 2 (14.3%) having seizure free.Seizure termination or seizure diminution was reported in 5 (35.7%) patients after using the magnet.Conclusion VNS is a safe and effective therapy and could improve the quality of life in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy; VNS is also effective for patients with symptomatic generalized epilepsy.