Abstracts

Rationale: The ketogenic diet has been widely and successfully used to treat children with drug-resistant epilepsy since the 1920s. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of the ketogenic diet at KFSH-D. Methods: 31 children aged between 1 and 14 years who had at least daily seizures, had failed to respond to at least two antiepileptic drugs, and had not been treated previously with the ketogenic diet participated in a retrospective study of its efficacy to control seizures between February, 2010, and July, 2012. Children were seen at KFSH-D. Early withdrawals were recorded, and seizure frequency on the diet was assessed after 18 months. Tolerability of the diet was assessed during clinic visit every 3 months. Results: The files of 31 children (14 were males and 17 were females) on ketogenic diet were reviewed. The most common seizure type were mixed and myoclonic seizures (58%). All of them had daily seizures. After 18 months, the mean percentage of baseline seizures was significantly reduced. 16 children (51.6%) on the diet had greater than 50% seizure reduction; five children (16.1%) in the diet group had greater than 90% seizure reduction, and six children (19.4%0 on the diet were seizure free. The most frequent side-effects reported were constipation, vomiting, lack of energy, and hunger. Conclusions: The results from this experience at KFSH-D of the ketogenic diet support its use in children with treatment-intractable epilepsy.