New breakthrough technique can significantly reduce seizures in young people with focal epilepsy
13 Jul 2023, 9:40 a.m.
This week we’re spotlighting some exciting news from a team of researchers at King’s College London, led by Dr Antonio Valentin (pictured).
The research team has developed a new diagnostic approach that can significantly reduce the number of seizures in young people with severe, uncontrolled focal epilepsy – with some young people becoming seizure-free. (Focal seizures arise when nerve cells in one part of the brain send out sudden, excessive electrical signals.)
The new approach – developed thanks to GOSH Charity and Action Medical Research funding during the 2015-16 National Call – gives hope to young people with the condition.
The National Call is part of our ambition to unlock breakthroughs in child medicine by supporting researchers to discover new, more effective ways to diagnose, treat and ultimately cure life-changing and life-limiting conditions.
Research “exceeded expectations”
Currently, roughly 30% of people with epilepsy do not respond to anti-epileptic medication.
The researchers used subacute cortical stimulation (or brain electrical stimulation) in patients who had intracranial electrodes placed under the skull as their standard diagnostic procedure for severe refractory epilepsy.
The aim was to determine where seizure-inducing signals were occurring in the brain, with the hope of stopping them by continuously stimulating specific parts of the brain over a defined period of time.
However, the results exceeded the researchers’ hopes. They found that subacute continuous cortical stimulation (over hours or days) – which was being used as a diagnostic tool in this study – significantly reduced seizures from short to very long periods in children and adults.
So far, the new technique has already helped 12 children.
“Initially we thought that the technique could only be used to help direct surgery in drug resistant epilepsy, but the results of the research exceeded our expectations. We’ve since been able to use the technique to guide other potential treatments for some children with epilepsy. Our most impressive result is that three children at King’s College Hospital and Alder Hey Children Hospitals who were using wheelchairs due to continuous seizures affecting their legs were able to walk again. This effect lasted from months to years.”
Thanks to the study, researchers have been able to make recommendations on how subcortical brain stimulation could be used in the future to treat more children with epilepsy.
This research is much needed as there are some children and young people whose focal epilepsy can’t be controlled with medicines or resection surgery.
Researchers can bring "hope to children and families"
Dr Kiki Syrad, Director of Impact and Charitable Programmes at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, commented on the impact research like this can have for seriously ill children.
“Seriously ill children with conditions like focal epilepsy deserve kind and effective treatments so they can lead happy and healthy lives,” she says.
“Research has the potential to transform the treatment options for rare and complex diseases, and at GOSH Charity we are delighted to work in partnership to co-fund pioneering medical researchers who bring hope to children and families when they need it most.”
UK’s largest dedicated charitable funder of child health
Here at GOSH Charity, we want to support researchers to carry out the most outstanding work wherever they are in the UK. We are already the largest charity specifically funding child health research in the UK.
We’re committed to supporting research that will most likely have life-changing benefits for children. That’s why we run our annual National Call, inviting researchers nationwide to apply for funding to investigate the most pressing issues in rare diseases in children and young people. Each year, we offer at least £2 million of funding to research teams across the country.
Find out more about how we support research by visiting the Research section of our website.