Vagus nerve stimulation for refractory status epilepticus.
July 3rd, 2008 | by admin |Vagus nerve stimulation for refractory status epilepticus.
We report on the long-term follow-up of a patient with refractory non-convulsive SE who was successfully treated with VNS. A 7-year old girl with a medical history of thrombosis in the right internal cerebral vein and right thalamic bleeding 8 days after birth, developed epilepsy at the age of 13 months. At the age of 6 she presented with a refractory non-convulsive SE. A vagus nerve stimulator was placed after 11 days of thiopental-induced coma. Three days after VNS implantation, the thiopental-induced coma was successfully withdrawn and electroencephalography showed normalization one week after start of VNS. After a follow-up of 13 months she remains seizure-free and AEDs have been partially tapered. This case illustrates a potential acute abortive effect with sustained long-term seizure reduction of VNS in a 7-year old girl who presented with refractory non-convulsive SE.
De Herdt V, Waterschoot L, Vonck K, Dermaut B, Verhelst H, Van Coster R, De Jaeger A, Van Roost D, Boon P.
Department of Neurology, Reference Center for Refractory Epilepsy, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium.