This study aims to observe the effect and safety of cerebellar continuous θ burst stimulation (cTBS) for drug-refractory epilepsy(DRE), in order to provide a new treatment for DRE and improve the quality of life of those patients. A total of 44 patients with DRE will have cTBS via accurate navigation to bilateral cerebellar dentate nuclei. Patients will be randomised into 2 groups in a crossover trial design to have 2 week periods of cTBS separated by 8 week washout periods, following which the patient will cross over to have the opposite condition for a further 2 week. Frequency and symptoms of seizures, scalp EEG, clinical scores, and QOLIE-31 were assessed at baseline and after 1 and 2 month of treatment.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
44
Continuous θ-burst stimulation (cTBS) is characterized by plexus stimulation. The stimulation intensity was 80% resting motor threshold (RMT) at 50Hz of intra plexus pulse while the frequency of inter plexus pulse is 5Hz, the duration was 33.2s, and the number of stimulation pulses was 600. Two groups of stimulation were repeated in each cerebellar dentate nucleus with an interval of 5 min in each group.
The transcranial magnetic stimulator operating system has a built-in control group option, in which the stimulation parameters are set consistent with the research group, which can realize the operation of only sound without stimulation.
Xijing Hospital
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
seizure reduction rate in pre- and post-treatment
A 28-day baseline for seizure frequency will be recorded by the patients themselves or their relatives before therapy and then compare to the frequency at 4-week and 8-week after treatment, finally, the rate of reduction in seizure frequency was obtained
Time frame: 8 weeks
responder rate
proportion of people with a 50% or greater reduction in seizure frequency following the treatment period
Time frame: 8 weeks
QOLIE-31 scale scores
Quality of Life in Epilepsy-31. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.
Time frame: 8 weeks
scalp electroencephalogram
Routine scalp electroencephalogram at 40 min
Time frame: 8 weeks
IQ
Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence. Above 130 points very excellent, 120-129 excellent, 110-119 above average, 90-109 average, 80-89 below average, 70-79 critical level, below 69 mental retardation, 50-69 mild mental retardation, 35-49 moderate mental retardation, 20-34 severe mental retardation, less than 20 extremely severe mental retardation.
Time frame: 8 weeks
MQ
Wechsler Memory Scale. Above 130 points very excellent, 120-129 excellent, 110-119 above average, 90-109 average, 80-89 below average, 70-79 critical level, below 69 mental retardation, 50-69 mild mental retardation, 35-49 moderate mental retardation, 20-34 severe mental retardation, less than 20 extremely severe mental retardation.
Time frame: 8 weeks
MoCA
Montreal Cognitive Assessment. A max score is 30 points, and a score ≥ 26 is considered normal.
Time frame: 8 weeks
MMSE
Mini-Mental State Examination. The normal values are defined as: illiterates \>17, primary school \>20, junior high school or above \>24.
Time frame: 8 weeks
HAMD
Hamilton Depression Scale. Total score \<7 means normal; between 7 and 17 means possible depression; between 17 and 24 , definitely have depression; \>24 means severe depression.
Time frame: 8 weeks
HAMA
Hamilton Anxiety Scale. The total score ≥29 may be severe anxiety; ≥21, obvious anxiety; ≥14, definite anxiety; ≥7, may have anxiety; If the score \<7, there are no symptoms of anxiety.
Time frame: 8 weeks
SCL-90
Self-reporting Inventory. The total symptom index scores ranged from 1 to 1.5, indicating that the subjects did not feel the symptoms listed in the scale. Between 1.5 and 2.5, indicates that the subject feels a little symptomatic, but not occur frequently. Between 2.5 and 3.5, indicates that the subject feels symptoms, and is mild to moderate. The score between 3.5 and 4.5 indicates that the subjects feel symptoms, and the degree was moderate to severe. A score between 4.5 and 5 indicates that the subject feels symptoms, and the frequency and intensity are very severe.
Time frame: 8 weeks
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