Use of the Atkins Diet for Children With Sturge Weber Syndrome

May 26, 2010 updated by: Johns Hopkins University

This research is being done to find out if the Atkins Diet can be used safely and effectively to reduce seizures in children who have Sturge Weber syndrome.

The ketogenic diet is a proven therapy for epilepsy, but can be difficult to use in children. The Atkins Diet is a high fat, high protein, low carbohydrate diet introduced in the 1970s to help with weight loss. It is different from the ketogenic diet in four major ways: no calorie restriction, no fluid restriction, no protein restriction, and is easy to start outside the hospital. People on the Atkins Diet become ketotic (produce high levels of ketones, a certain substance in the body), like patients on the ketogenic diet, and the investigators believe this may lead to seizure control.

Children aged 2-18 with Sturge Weber syndrome and seizures at least monthly, who have used at least two anti-seizure drugs may join. 5 children in total will be enrolled.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Detailed Description

If you agree to be in this study, we will ask you to do the following things:

Before the diet is started:

  • We will ask you to keep track of your child's seizures daily for 2 weeks before starting the Atkins diet and provide us with a 3-day food record as well.
  • Baseline blood (about 2 teaspoons) and urine work will be obtained.
  • We will give you a free copy of a carbohydrate-counting guide.
  • You will be asked to fill out a 3-day food record.

On the diet:

  • Give your child a daily calcium supplement and multivitamin.
  • Keep a daily seizure log.
  • Check urine for ketones (to make sure the diet is working) and specific gravity (to make sure your child is well hydrated) twice a week and when you come to clinic.
  • We will ask you to weigh your child at home every week, and we will weigh him or her when you come into clinic too.
  • Do not fluid restrict your child; please give plenty of carbohydrate-free fluids.
  • You will give 20 grams per day of carbohydrates. We will give you instructions on how to measure daily intake of carbohydrates.
  • We will not change medications for the first three months. Do not change your child's seizure medicines without checking with our doctors.
  • For the first three months, we ask you to avoid store-bought low-carbohydrate products (as they can have more carbohydrates than advertised).

After being on the diet for one month, Dr. Kossoff will contact you by telephone to discuss how your child is doing. You can also speak with one of our dietitians. We will discuss the 3-day food record with you

You will be asked to come to the clinic (outpatient center, 5th floor) for two follow-up visits:

  1. after being on the diet for 3 months and
  2. after being on the diet for 6 months.

During these visits you will meet with one of our doctors and a dietitian. We will review your child's seizure control and health. We may obtain blood (about 2 teaspoons). We will check your child's urine for ketones and specific gravity.

If the diet is helping beyond 6 months, we will help your child continue on the diet with clinic visits and labs as necessary, at a carbohydrate amount that is most helpful.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

5

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
        • Johns Hopkins Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years to 18 years (ADULT, CHILD)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 2-18 years
  • Sturge Weber syndrome
  • Monthly seizures (at least)
  • Tried at least two anticonvulsants

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior use of the Atkins or ketogenic diets
  • Patients with non-epileptic seizures (pseudoseizures) will be excluded
  • Patients that are pregnant or become pregnant during the study will be excluded
  • High cholesterol

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: A
This is open-label - all patients are placed on the diet. There is no control or placebo arm.
High fat, low carbohydrate diet

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Seizures
Time Frame: 6 months
Seizure frequency will be compared to baseline (pre-Diet).
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Ketosis
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Safety (stroke like events)
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Eric H Kossoff, MD, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2006

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

March 1, 2010

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

May 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 14, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 14, 2008

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

March 20, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

May 27, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 26, 2010

Last Verified

May 1, 2010

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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