ArticleEpilepsia open2021
The Efficacy, Safety, and Outcomes of Brain-responsive Neurostimulation (RNS® System) therapy in older adults.
Article in Epilepsia open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ethical, legal, and sociocultural considerations in neural device explantation: a systematic review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- The comparison of DBS and RNS for adult drug-resistant epilepsy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Pooled it
- The Saga of Late-Onset Unexplained Epilepsy.Epilepsy currents · 2026Review
- The landscape of epilepsy surgery in older adults: Challenges and opportunities.Epilepsia open · 2025Review
- Role of Responsive Neurostimulation in Managing Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: A Systematic Review of Clinical Outcomes.Cureus · 2024Review
- Extremely long RNS implantation effect: The extended impact of RNS electrodes on clinical and ECoG findings without the confounding effect of RNS stimulation.Epileptic disorders : international epilepsy journal with videotape · 2024Article
- Single center outcomes of intracranial evaluation and surgical intervention in the elderly population.Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2022Article
- The Efficacy, Safety, and Outcomes of Brain-responsive Neurostimulation (RNS® System) therapy in older adults.Epilepsia open · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe gold standard for the management of drug-resistant focal epilepsy (DRE) is resection of epileptogenic zone. However, some patients may not be candidates for resection. Responsive neurostimulation is approved in patients above 18 years of age for such patients. We aimed to investigate whether RNS outcomes and safety varied based on age.
methodsWe performed a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients with DRE who were treated with RNS between May 2008 and February 2020. We included patients who had been implanted with RNS for >6 months (N = 55), dividing them into older (N = 11) and younger adults (N = 44) depending on implantation age (≥50 and <50 years, respectively).
resultsMean age at implantation in older adults was 54.9 ± 3.5 years. Seizure onset age, epilepsy duration, and comorbidities were significantly higher in older adults ( P < .01). Stimulation parameters, treatment duration, and median seizure frequency reduction (76% in older vs 50% in younger adults) were statistically comparable between the two cohorts. Posttreatment, antiseizure medication burden was significantly decreased in older compared with younger adults (P = .048). Postoperative and delayed adverse events among older adults were mild. Compared with three younger adults, none of the older adults required device explantation due to surgical site infection.
conclusionOur study suggests that older adults treated with the RNS System achieve seizure outcomes comparable to younger adults with the additional benefit of a significant postimplantation medication reduction. With efficacy and safety similar to younger adults, brain-responsive neurostimulation was well-tolerated in older adults.
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