ArticleChild's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery2021
Subgroup analysis of seizure and cognitive outcome after vagal nerve stimulator implantation in children.
Article in Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in hemodialysis patients: A randomized controlled trial.Therapeutic apheresis and dialysis : official peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy · 2026Trial
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (ta-VNS) for Treatment of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2023Trial
- Differential Impacts of Fronto-Cerebellar tACS and tVNS on Motor Learning: Evidence for Sex-Related Neural Modulation.Neural plasticity · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation in drug-resistant epilepsy: a single-center prospective real-world study.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2025Article
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy in Epilepsy: An Overview of Technical and Surgical Method, Patient Selection, and Treatment Outcomes.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- The dual effect of vagus nerve stimulation in pediatric patients with drug-resistant epilepsy: Is there more than seizure control?Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2024Article
- Vagus nerve stimulation for treating developmental and epileptic encephalopathy in young children.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Vagus nerve stimulation: a 20-year Australian experience.Acta neurochirurgica · 2022Article
- Efficacy and potential predictors of vagus nerve stimulation therapy in refractory postencephalitic epilepsy.Therapeutic advances in chronic disease · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveVagal nerve stimulator (VNS) implantation at an early age seems to lead to improved quality of life and cognitive outcome. The aim of this analysis is to evaluate whether specific patient or seizure characteristics might lead to better seizure control, cognitive outcome, and higher quality of life in children undergoing VNS implantation.
methodsPrimary outcome measure was reduction in seizure frequency. Secondary outcome measures were epilepsy outcome assessed by McHugh and Engel classifications, reduction in antiepileptic drugs (AED), developmental and cognitive outcome, as well as quality of life assessed through the pediatric quality of life (PEDSQL™) questionnaire and care giver impression (CGI) scale. Forty-five consecutive children undergoing VNS implantation were analyzed for the following subgroups: age (categorized to 1-2 years old, 3-5 years old, 6-12 years old, and 13-18 years old), sex, underlying cause (categorized to idiopathic, encephalitis, stroke, syndromic), duration of preoperative seizures (dichotomized to under or above 89 months, corresponding to the median of the whole cohort), and preoperative seizure frequency (dichotomized to under and above 360 seizures per month).
resultsEncephalitis as the underlying cause for seizures was the only variable significantly associated with higher reduction rate of seizure frequency. Patients with VNS implantation at the age of ≤ 2 years showed a strong association with better developmental and cognitive outcome, as well as quality of life. Shorter duration of preoperative seizures and higher preoperative seizure frequency showed a strong association with better developmental outcome, as well as quality of life. Engel outcome scores were significantly better in patients with epilepsy due to encephalitis (100% Engel I-III). However, patients with epilepsy due to encephalitis showed significantly higher complication rates (71.4%, p = 0.045).
conclusionsChildren suffering from epilepsy due to encephalitis show higher seizure reduction rates after VNS implantation when compared with children suffering from epilepsy due to other causes. Developmental and cognitive outcomes as well as quality of life of children undergoing VNS implantation is strongly associated with shorter duration of preoperative seizures and implantation at a young age.
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