title: Viscum Album in the Treatment of a Girl With Refractory Childhood Absence Epilepsy.
abstract: Viscum album (European mistletoe) extracts have known immunomodulatory effects but little data exist on anticonvulsant activity despite its usefulness having been reported for centuries. A 4½-year-old girl with childhood absence epilepsy and global developmental delay was treated with different antiepileptic drugs and ketogenic diet but failed to become seizure free over a 2-year period. She also received different herbal remedies as part of an integrative medicine approach. Initial improvement occurred on valproate-ethosuximide, a further improvement was seen after adding clobazam to valproate. Final cessation of absence activity occurred after a dose increase of V album. She was still seizure free at the 12-month follow-up. V album appears to have been a necessary adjunct treatment for this child to become seizure free. We call on physicians to report their experiences of V album in epilepsy and suggest further study.
authors.affiliation: ARCIM Institute, Filderklinik, Filderstadt, Germany Department of Pediatrics, Fribourg Hospital HFR, Fribourg, Switzerland tido.von.schoenangerer@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tido
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: von Schoen-Angerer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Filderklinik, Filderstadt, Germany.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Madeleyn
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology (IFAEMM), University of Witten/Herdecke, Fribourg, Germany.
authors.forename: Gunver
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kienle
authors.affiliation: Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology (IFAEMM), University of Witten/Herdecke, Fribourg, Germany.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kiene
authors.affiliation: ARCIM Institute, Filderklinik, Filderstadt, Germany Department of Pediatrics, Filderklinik, Filderstadt, Germany Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vagedes
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D058256:Brain Waves / Q000187:drug effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004832:Epilepsy, Absence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D028182:Viscum album / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
keywords: European mistletoe; Viscum album; absence epilepsy; case reports; integrative medicine