title: The effect of vagus nerve stimulation therapy on body mass index in children.
abstract: The effects of vagus nerve stimulation on weight in individuals with epilepsy are not fully characterized. A retrospective review was performed of all pediatric patients who underwent placement of a vagus nerve stimulator at Duke University Medical Center. Baseline body mass index (BMI) percentile was compared with percentile on follow-up visits. We studied 23 patients who had undergone VNS placement during the period 2001-2009. Baseline BMI percentile was 61.7 ± 34.3. We had a power of 81% to detect a difference of 20 in BMI percentile from baseline to last follow-up. At the 1-year follow-up (mean=345 ± 112 days) and last follow-up (mean 4.2 ± 2.4 years) the average BMI percentile was 61.6 ± 31.88 and 56.09 ± 30.83, respectively. There was no significant difference in BMI percentile as compared with baseline at the 1-year and last follow-up visits (P=0.992 and 0.681, respectively). Long-term pediatric VNS therapy did not have a major clinically significant effect on BMI percentile during an average follow-up of more than 4 years.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Sujay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kansagra
authors.forename: Nour
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ataya
authors.forename: Darrell
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gallentine
authors.forename: Mohamad A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mikati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055536:Vagus Nerve Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult