Early experiences with tachycardia‐triggered vagus nerve stimulation using the AspireSR stimulator. Issue 2 (June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: El Tahry, Riëm; Hirsch, Martin; Van Rijckevorsel, Kenou; Santos, Susana Ferrao; de Tourtchaninoff, Marianne; Rooijakkers, Herbert; Coenen, Volker; Schulze‐Bonhage, Andreas
• Is Part Of: Epileptic disorders. Volume 18:Issue 2(2016:Jun.)
• Page Start: 155
• Page End: 162
• Publication Date: 2016-06
• Subjects: refractory epilepsy -- vagus nerve stimulation -- ictal tachycardia -- closed‐loop stimulation; Epilepsy -- Periodicals; 616.853
• DOI: 10.1684/epd.2016.0831
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1294-9361

Abstract

Abstract: Many epilepsy patients treated with vagus nerve stimulation additionally use an "on‐demand" function, triggering an extra stimulation to terminate a seizure or diminish its severity. Nevertheless, a substantial number of patients are not able to actively trigger stimulations by use of a magnet, due to the absence of an aura or inability for voluntary actions in the early phase of a seizure. To address this need, a novel implantable pulse generator, the AspireSR VNS system, was developed to provide automated ictal stimulation triggered by a seizure‐detecting algorithm. We report our experience with three patients in assessing the functionality of ictal stimulation, illustrating the detection system in practice. Detection of ictal tachycardia and variable additional detections of physiological tachycardia depended on the individual seizure‐detecting algorithm settings.