Investigation of biomarkers for responders in vagus nerve stimulation therapy

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26462223
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurosurgery
• Research Institution: Kindai University
• Principal Investigator: KATO Amami 近畿大学, 医学部, 教授 (00233776)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): NAKANO Naoki 近畿大学, 医学部, 講師 (60258027)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 難治てんかん / 迷走神経刺激療法 / バイオマーカ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Vagus nerve stimulation therapy (VNS) is a palliative treatment option for patients with intractable epilepsy who are not good candidates for surgical resection. The biomarker for responder to VNS is, however, not well known. We investigated the clinical features of VNS responders after starting stimulation. We also analyzed routine clinical electroencephalograms (EEGs) from 24 patients who were undergoing seizure treatment by VNS. We compared SCPs at 5 electrodes (around Cz) between the 2 states of VNS: stimulation period and inter-stimulation period. As the results, a positive shift of SCP correlated significantly with seizure reduction, and could be a surrogate marker for VNS response.

Free Research Field

脳神経外科