The electroencephalographic evolution of a group of patients on a ketogenic diet

Introduction. A ketogenic diet is an old method for the treatment of resistant epilepsy in children, which has been revived in recent years because of its proven efficacy Objective. To correlate electroencephalographic findings and clinical changes observed in a group of patients on the classical ketogenic diet to determine the validity of the electroencephalogram in following-up treatment. Patients and methods. We made a prospective evaluation of 11 patients aged between 1 and 19 years for an average period of 22 months. The patients had different types of resistant epilepsy according to Schmidt's score as modified by Aicardi, with a sleep encephalogram prior to treatment and 3, 6, 12 and 24 months later, after following the protocol of the classical ketogenic diet. Results. The sleep encephalograph recordings showed changes in all patients. In 9% of cases they became normal there was great improvement in 45.45% and some improvement in 45.45%. No patient had worsening of the recording. There was over 50% reduction in the number of seizures seen in 72.7% of the children and complete control was achieved in 27.3%. Conclusions. Normalization or improvement of sleep encephalogram recordings was correlated with improvement in seizures. Electroenchephalogram follow-up is a useful method for prediction of response to treatment with a ketogenic diet.