In addition, the multiple medications that many children with
intractable epilepsy take can have an impact.
Most of these patients with
intractable epilepsy have seizures that are focal and can be potentially treated.
Cian, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was diagnosed with
intractable epilepsy when he was two.
Stiripentol, which is believed to inhibit the activity of several P-450 cytochromes, resulted in the highest response rate ever reported for severe myoclonic epilepsy, one of the most
intractable epilepsy syndromes, Dr.
To circumvent these problems, Duncan, Read, and Brodie[6] employed a strict definition of catamenial epilepsy in their prospective study examining 40 consecutive women with
intractable epilepsy. Antiepileptic drug levels were randomly measured to ensure that compliance or fluctuating drug levels did not influence seizure frequency.
Of children with the most
intractable epilepsy (the hardest to control), Johns Hopkins reports improved seizure control in 67 percent.
Surgical treatment has been reported in cases of medically
intractable epilepsy, but it is rarely considered (11).
"Depression may be iatrogenically induced with various antiepileptic drugs used to treat the seizure disorder or after surgical treatment of
intractable epilepsy," he noted.
People with
intractable epilepsy make up the majority of the patient population seen in epilepsy centers.
[11.] Petersen RC, Sharbrough FW, Jack CR: Intracarotid amobarbital testing in presurgical evaluation of patients with
intractable epilepsy. Pages 1051-1061 in: Treatment of Epilepsy Principles and Practice.
The incidence of this phenomenon is especially frequent in children with
intractable epilepsy. This may be a result of the unpredictability of the seizure episodes.
In this clinical procedure, patients suffering from
intractable epilepsy get electrodes implanted in multiple brain regions to locate the epileptic focus and surgically remove it.