Long-term vagus nerve stimulation in children with focal epilepsy

Objectives 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. Materials and methods We retrospectively analyzed 15 children with intractable focal epilepsy treated by vagus nerve stimulation (mean age of 14.6 +/- 2.5years at the time of implantation). We analyzed the treatment effectiveness at 1, 2, and 5year 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 1year, 54.9% at 2years, and 58.3% at 5years. The number of responders was 7 (46.7%) at 1year and 9 (60%) at both 2 and 5years. 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 (P<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.