Published online August 1, 2008
PEDIATRICS Vol. 122 No. 2 August 2008, pp. e330-e333 (doi:10.1542/10.1542/peds.2008-0012)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jung, D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Kim, H. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Jung, D. E.
Right arrow Articles by Kim, H. D.
Related Collections
Right arrow Neurology & Psychiatry
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

ARTICLE

Long-Term Outcome of the Ketogenic Diet for Intractable Childhood Epilepsy With Focal Malformation of Cortical Development

Da Eun Jung, MDa, Hoon Chul Kang, MD, PhDb and Heung Dong Kim, MD, PhDa

a Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Epilepsy Clinic, Severance Children's Hospital, Brain Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
b Department of Pediatrics, Epilepsy Center, Inje University College of Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Seoul, Korea

OBJECTIVE. We evaluated the efficacy and long-term outcome of the ketogenic diet in patients with intractable childhood epilepsy as a result of focal malformation of cortical development.

METHODS. A retrospective analysis evaluated seizure outcomes of 47 patients who had intractable epilepsy from (and) surgically remediable focal malformation of cortical development and were first treated with the classic ketogenic diet, involving the 4:1 lipid/nonlipid ratio. The long-term prognosis of 21 patients, who became seizure-free 3 months after the ketogenic diet, was followed up with that of 22 patients who eventually underwent epilepsy surgery.

RESULTS. Three months after diet initiation, 29 (61.7%) patients showed a reduction in seizure frequency of >50%, including 21 (44.7%) who became seizure-free. Of the 21 patients with complete seizure control at 3 months, 16 (76.2%) successfully completed the diet for 2 years without relapse, and 10 (47.6%) have remained seizure-free after cessation of the diet (mean follow-up for 3 years and 10 months), including 1 patient who remained seizure-free with additional medication after a relapse. Of the 22 patients who underwent epilepsy surgery, a seizure-free outcome was obtained for 13 (59.1%).

CONCLUSIONS. The ketogenic diet should be considered to be an additional option even in patients with focal malformation of cortical development, and long-term seizure-free outcome can be expected for patients who become seizure-free 3 months after the diet.

Key Words: ketogenic diet • epilepsy surgery • childhood epilepsy • malformation of cortical development

Abbreviations: MCD—malformation of cortical development • AED—antiepileptic drug • KD—ketogenic diet • TR—repetition time • TE—echo time

Accepted Apr 4, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?