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Journal of Child Neurology
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0883073808315417v1
23/9/991    most recent
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*Epilepsy
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Article

Quality of Life and Seizure Outcome After Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Children With Intractable Epilepsy

Elisabeth M. S. Sherman, PhD1*, Mary B. Connolly, MB, FRCPC2, Daniel J. Slick, PhD1, Kim L. Eyrl, MSc3, Paul Steinbok, MBBS, FRCPSC4, and Kevin Farrell, MB, FRCPC2

1 Neurosciences Program, Alberta Children’s Hospital and Department of Pediatrics and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2 Division of Neurology, British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
3 Department of Psychology, British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada
4 Division of Neurosurgery, Dept of Pediatric Surgery, British Columbia’s Children’s Hospital and Dept of Surgery, Univ of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: elisabeth.sherman{at}calgaryhealthregion.ca.


  Abstract
This study examined the effect of vagus nerve stimulation on quality of life in children with epilepsy using a validated quality-of-life scale and an empirical technique that accounts for measurement error in assessing individual change (the reliable change index). Participants were 34 children with severe intractable epilepsy who underwent vagus nerve stimulation and 19 children with intractable epilepsy who received medical management. Parent-completed epilepsy-specific and global ratings at baseline and after 1 year indicated that most children had no changes in quality of life following vagus nerve stimulation (52%-77%), similar to the comparison group. There was a trend for decreases to be less common in the vagus nerve stimulation group (14% vs 37%, P < .07), but there was no relation between improved quality of life and seizure control. The results raise questions about the mechanisms that underlie changes in quality of life after vagus nerve stimulation in this group of children.

First published on May 12, 2008, doi:10.1177/0883073808315417

Journal of Child Neurology 2008;23:991.

A more recent version of this article appeared on September 1, 2008

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