Pediatria Clínica: Acesso Aberto
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Vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of epileptic encephalopathy in children

Mingkun Gong, Yunlin Li, Guoming Luan*

Epilepsy is a neurological disease characterized by recurrent seizures of consciousness, convulsions, perceptual disorders, and parenthesis. Epileptic Encephalopathy (EE) is a serious cognitive and behavioral disorder caused by epileptic seizure beyond the underlying cause. The typical triad of EE includes frequent and drug resistant seizures, distinctive abnormal EEG changes and cognitive and behavioral retardation. Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is an antiepileptic method that modulates electrical activity in the brain by electrically stimulating the vagus nerve and projecting circuits to afferent fibers. VNS has been approved for the treatment of epilepsy in patients over 12 years of age since 1997. The indications are gradually extended to children, which provide a new approach for the treatment of EE children. This article reviews the application of VNS in children with epileptic encephalopathy from the aspects of effectively reducing seizures, improving cognitive development to a certain extent, treating comorbidities and improving the quality of family life.