Verapamil as Therapy for Children and Young Adults With Dravet Syndrome

March 22, 2021 updated by: Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

Verapamil as Adjunctive Seizure Therapy for Children and Young Adults With Dravet Syndrome

This study will assess how well the drug verapamil can improve control of seizures and dysautonomia symptoms in children and young adults diagnosed with Dravet syndrome. The safety of verapamil when given with all concomitant medications will also be assessed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Dravet syndrome (DS) is a devastating form of pediatric seizure disorder (epilepsy), often related to abnormalities of one of the genes that controls sodium channel function in the brain (SCN1A). Most children with DS experience continued seizures even with optimal treatment of currently available anti-seizure therapies [1]. Many of these seizures are prolonged, and can be life threatening.

This pilot study will assess the efficacy of verapamil in improving control of seizures in children and young adults DS. This will be done by adding verapamil as open label adjunctive therapy to medications already being given. Investigators will assess the effect of verapamil therapy on seizure control and on signs of autonomic dysfunction observable to the parents/guardians. Signs of autonomic function include body temperature regulation, sweating, heart rate, pupil size, and flushing of the skin. Iannetti, et al reported treating 2 children with clinical DS (one with an SCN1A mutation) with verapamil as adjunctive therapy [2]. Both children had a positive clinical response persisting for a number of months. No adverse effects were noted. We have treated an additional 4 children with DS with verapamil. There have been no significant adverse effects; 3 of 4 have experienced improved seizure control for months also.

Verapamil has been shown to affect autonomic tone in patients with cardiac disorders (eg. high blood pressure, heart attack). It alters the balance between parts of the autonomic nervous system's function (called sympathetic and parasympathetic function) with a shift toward decreased sympathetic tone and increased parasympathetic (vagus nerve) tone [8, 9, 10]. Verapamil is used as an effective agent to treat certain types of autonomic headaches in both adults and children. In cluster headaches, autonomic symptoms (tearing, nasal congestion, facial sweating, papillary constriction) are prominent; verapamil is an accepted treatment [11, 12].

Intense emotion triggers seizures in a subset of children with DS. Modulation of autonomic function is likely an integral part of seizure threshold in those so affected. Children with DS have a higher rate of signs of abnormal autonomic function than do controls [13]. Cardiac autonomic control is also altered in these children, with a shift in the balance between sympathetic (relatively overactive) and parasympathetic (relatively less active) tone [14]. Similar findings have been identified in adults with intractable epilepsy and children with partial epilepsy [15, 16, 17]. Verapamil's action in stabilizing the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic tone may play a role altering autonomic tone abnormalities in children with DS as well. This may be a part of the mechanism that leads to improved seizure control.

Verapamil has been in clinical use for ~ 25 years. The FDA has granted an Investigational New Drug approval for use of this medication in this population of children and young adults. Investigators propose to add it to the patient's existing medications, and evaluate potential improvement in seizure control. Potential side effects will be screened. Investigators will monitor liver function with blood tests as well as concentrations of anti-seizure medications. Verapamil and nor-verapamil levels will be assessed twice also. Testing of heart rhythm (EKG) will be done before the study starts and twice more during the study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

2

Phase

  • Phase 2

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

  • United States
    • Illinois
      • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60614
        • Children's Memorial Hospital
    • Minnesota
      • Rochester, Minnesota, United States, 55905
        • Mayo Clinic
      • Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, 55101
        • Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare
    • New Hampshire
      • Lebanon, New Hampshire, United States, 03756
        • Mary Hitchcock Memorial 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

1 year to 21 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 2 to 25 years old
  • Onset of seizures in first year of life
  • seizure type usually generalized tonic-clonic, clonic, or hemiclonic, often prolonged (>10 minutes)
  • myoclonic jerks/myoclonic seizures
  • history of normal development at seizure onset with subsequent developmental delay or regression which occurs after seizure onset
  • presence of documented abnormality on the SCN1A gene
  • medically intractable epilepsy: must have been on at least 2 prior antiepileptic medications without adequate control of epilepsy
  • subject is capable of giving informed consent (or assent if possible) or has an acceptable surrogate capable of giving informed consent on the subject's behalf

Exclusion Criteria:

  • use of clonidine, propranolol, carbamazepine, oxcarbazine, stiripentol, lamotrigine, or cyclosporine
  • Abnormalities of cardiac conduction or rhythm (excluding sinus arrhythmia) on screening EKG
  • significant use of grapefruit juice
  • ketogenic diet
  • pregnancy

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: open label adjunctive add on
open label adjunctive add on of verapamil to existing medications. dosing begins at 1 mg/kg/d and increases weekly to target of 4 mg/kg/d in divided doses (three times/day)
Drug: Verapamil

Verapamil will be prepared as a solution. A 50mg/ml oral suspension may be made with immediate release tablets and either a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet and Ora-Plus or a 1:1 mixture of Ora-Sweet SF and Ora-Plus will be used.

Children will start on a 4 weeks titration period:

Week 1: 1mg/kg/day divided BID Week 2: 2mg/kg/day divided BID or TID Week 3: 3mg/kg/day divided BID or TID Week 4: 4mg/kg/day divided TID

In event of adverse events, and in consultation with the family and treating physician, the dosage may be decreased to 2mg/kg/day and remain at that dose for the remainder of the study.

Other Names:
  • Calan
  • Covera
  • Isoptin
  • Verelan

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Number of General Tonic-clonic Seizures From Week 8 (Baseline) Visit to Week 12 Visit
Time Frame: Week 8 (baseline) to Week 12
The primary study endpoint is the change in number of seizures from baseline. Since we only had one participant finish the study, the endpoint was changed to Week 12 visit. Participants were on verapamil for 4 weeks at Week 12.
Week 8 (baseline) to Week 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Number of Myoclonic Seizures From Week 8 (Baseline) to Week 12
Time Frame: Week 8 (baseline) to Week 12
The secondary outcome is the change in number of myoclonic seizures between baseline Week 8 visit and Week 12 visit.
Week 8 (baseline) to Week 12
Change in Number of Absence Seizures From Week 8 (Baseline) to Week 12
Time Frame: Week 8 to Week 12
The secondary outcome measure is the change in number of absence seizures from Week 8 (Baseline) to Week 12
Week 8 to Week 12

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

Collaborators

Mayo Clinic
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Beverly S Wical, MD, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare

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.

General Publications

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

April 1, 2012

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 24, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 25, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

May 28, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 22, 2021

Last Verified

March 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IND 113666

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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