Stress and childhood epilepsy

Completed

Conditions: Epilepsy
seizure disorder
10039911

Registration Number: NL-OMON39835

Lead Sponsor: niversitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 123

Inclusion Criteria

Children with epilepsy:
- Patients between 6 to 17 years of age
- Established diagnosis of epilepsy
- Mean seizure frequency of at least 1 seizure a year
Healthy controls:
- Age and gender matched to a child with epilepsy that is included in the study, not diagnosed with any chronic disease

Exclusion Criteria

o In patients with epilepsy:
-Any doubt about the diagnosis epilepsy
-No distinction possible between (co-existing) seizures of (possible) non-epileptic origin and epileptic seizures by parents and/or treating paediatric neurologist
- Seizure free since brain surgery or brain surgery scheduled in the following months
- Reported status epilepticus in response to acute stress;in total study population:
- Children with assessed or expected (based on school level) intelligence quotient (IQ) or IQ estimate (calculated from developmental age) <70
- Children with chronic co morbidities (e.g. psychiatric disorder)
- Use of medication known to influence HPA-axis functioning (e.g. oral anticonceptives, corticosteroid medication, ACTH receptor agonists)
-Heavy smoking (> 10 cigarettes a day)
-Heavy alcohol consumption (> 60g a day)

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational non invasive

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>The main study outcome is the difference in maximum level of cortisol during<br /><br>the Trier Social Stress Test between children with stress sensitive seizures,<br /><br>children with non stress sensitive seizures and healthy controls. </p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>The secundary study parameters are the differences in:<br /><br><br /><br>- diurnal cortisol variability;<br /><br>- hippocampal function; and<br /><br>- genetic polymorphisms<br /><br><br /><br>between children with stress sensitive seizures, children with non stress<br /><br>sensitive seizures and healthy controls. </p><br>