Vagus nerve stimulation for generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) accompanying seizures with impaired consciousness

Abstract

Generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+) is characterized by childhood-onset epilepsy syndrome. It involves febrile seizures and a variety of afebrile epileptic seizure types within the same pedigree with autosomal-dominant inheritance. Approximately 10% of individuals with GEFS+ harbor SCN1A, a gene mutation in one of the voltage-gated sodium channel subunits. Considerably less common are focal epilepsies including focal seizures with impaired consciousness. We report vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in a 6-year-old girl with GEFS+ who exhibited drug-resistant generalized tonic-clonic seizures and focal seizures with impaired consciousness.

Keywords

• Generalized epilepsy with febrile seizures plus (GEFS+)
• Generalized tonic-clonic seizures
• Focal seizures with impaired consciousness
• Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)