title: Long-term vagus nerve stimulation in children with focal epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and hospitalization rates in children with refractory focal epilepsy treated by vagus nerve stimulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed 15 children with intractable focal epilepsy treated by vagus nerve stimulation (mean age of 14.6 ± 2.5 years at the time of implantation). We analyzed the treatment effectiveness at 1, 2, and 5 year follow-up visits. We counted the average number of urgent hospitalizations and number of days of urgent hospitalization per year for each patient before and after the VNS implantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean seizure reduction was 42.5% at 1 year, 54.9% at 2 years, and 58.3% at 5 years. The number of responders was 7 (46.7%) at 1 year and 9 (60%) at both 2 and 5 years. The mean number of urgent hospitalizations per patient was 1.0 ± 0.6 per year preoperatively and 0.3 ± 0.5 per year post-operatively (P < 0.0001). The mean number of days of urgent hospitalization per patient was 9.3 ± 6.1 per year preoperatively and 1.3 ± 1.8 per year post-operatively ( < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vagus nerve stimulation is an effective method of treating children with refractory focal epilepsy. It leads to a substantial decrease in the number and duration of urgent hospitalizations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, Epilepsy Center Brno, Faculty of Medicine, Brno University Hospital, Masaryk University, Czech Republic. mryzi@seznam.cz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryzí
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brázdil
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Novák
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chrastina
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ošlejšková
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rektor
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kuba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003371:Cough / Q000209:etiology; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D004630:Emergencies / Q000453:epidemiology; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000209:etiology; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055536:Vagus Nerve Stimulation / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants