CLINICAL RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Elsas SM, Sung S, Randall-Stitt CA, White G.
A mind-body approach to epilepsy renders first
study patient seizure free.
Oregon Health and Science University elsas@ohsu.edu
PURPOSE: We report on the first patient in a
pilot study of a mind-body treatment approach for epileptic seizures.
METHODS: The patient is a 47 year old woman
with complex partial and generalized tonic clonic seizures since age
17. Her EEG shows frequent spike and slow wave epileptiform discharges
with a bilateral frontal predominance and occasional left and right
parietal epileptiform sharp waves. Her probability of nonepileptic seizures,
calculated from the MMPI2 score, EEG data and duration of seizure disorder,
was 0.0031. The mind-body treatment consisted of daily meditative relaxation,
weekly counseling to identify physical and emotional seizure triggers,
and the use of meditative relaxation to interrupt seizures in the aura
stage. Anticonvulsant medication was continued without change.
RESULTS: From a baseline frequency of 16 seizures
per month the patient has now been seizure free for more than 4 months.
Average monthly frequency of all seizure types, overall quality of life
in epilepsy (QOLIE-89) scores, and Profile of Mood States (POMS) scores
are given in the table below for 4 time points in the study: the end
of a 4 month period preceding study enrollment, the end of a 3 month
baseline observation period, the end of the 6 month treatment period,
and 4 months of observation after completion of treatment.
| |
Pre-baseline
(4 mo) |
Baseline
(3 mo) |
Treatment period
(6 mo) |
Post-treatment
(4 mo) |
| Avg seizure freq / month |
16.3 |
9.5 |
1.3 |
0.0 |
Overall QOLIE score
(6.4-69.6) |
28.9 |
34.2 |
46.4 |
Not yet obtained |
| POMS total mood disturbance |
80 |
94 |
37 |
| POMS tension/anxiety |
25 |
26 |
8 |
| POMS confusion/bewilderment |
8 |
7 |
0 |
CONCLUSIONS: The mind-body approach examined
using meditative relaxation and counseling appears promising and a randomized
controlled trial is in preparation.
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