The role of ketogenic diet in the treatment of refractory status epilepticus

Guidelines for the evaluation and management of status epilepticus

Status epilepticus (SE) treatment strategies vary substantially from one institution to another due to the lack of data to support one treatment over another. To provide guidance for the acute treatment of SE in critically ill patients, the Neurocritical Care Society organized a writing committee to evaluate the literature and develop an evidence-based and expert consensus practice guideline. Literature searches were conducted using PubMed and studies meeting the criteria established by the writing committee were evaluated. Recommendations were developed based on the literature using standardized assessment methods from the American Heart Association and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation systems, as well as expert opinion when sufficient data were lacking.

Epileptic encephalopathies (including severe epilepsy syndromes)

Epileptic encephalopathies represent a group of devastating epileptic disorders that appear early in life and are characterized by pharmacoresistant generalized or focal seizures, persistent severe electroencephalography (EEG) abnormalities, and cognitive dysfunction or decline. The ictal and interictal epileptic discharges are age-specific and are the main etiologic factors causing cognitive deterioration. This is most obvious in the idiopathic group. In the symptomatic group, the most common causes are structural, congenital, or acquired and rarely some metabolic disorders. In certain cases, clinical and EEG abnormalities persist and may evolve from one type to another as the child grows older. Various factors trigger and sustain the underlying pathophysiologic process and the ongoing epileptic and epileptiform activity during the most critical periods of brain maturation, perpetuating their deleterious effect on the brain. Immune-mediated mechanisms may have a role, suggested by certain encephalopathies responding to immune-modulating treatments and by the finding of various autoimmune antibodies. The chance of a better cognitive outcome improves with early diagnosis and treatment that is appropriate and effective. Current antiepileptic drugs are, in general, not effective: we urgently need new trials in this very special epileptic category. This article briefly reviews the most common epileptic encephalopathies and analyzes the most important clinical issues.

The use of ketogenic diet in special situations: expanding use in intractable epilepsy and other neurologic disorders

The ketogenic diet has been widely used and proved to be effective for intractable epilepsy. Although the mechanisms underlying its anti-epileptic effects remain to be proven, there are increasing experimental evidences for its neuroprotective effects along with many researches about expanding use of the diet in other neurologic disorders. The first success was reported in glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome, in which the diet served as an alternative metabolic source. Many neurologic disorders share some of the common pathologic mechanisms such as mitochondrial dysfunction, altered neurotransmitter function and synaptic transmission, or abnormal regulation of reactive oxygen species, and the role of the ketogenic diet has been postulated in these mechanisms. In this article, we introduce an overview about the expanding use and emerging trials of the ketogenic diet in various neurologic disorders excluding intractable epilepsy and provide explanations of the mechanisms in that usage.