Researchers at the UMC Utrecht Brain Center have developed two programs for young epilepsy patients. This allows them to predict who will respond well to medication and for whom tapering off medication gives a low risk of new attacks. In this way, patients can receive customized care. The prediction program is now available online for healthcare providers, the hospital writes in a press release.
The researchers have translated the two models into an online forecasting program. This software can calculate the likelihood that someone will respond to treatment, and the likelihood of remaining seizure-free after tapering off medication. The program, which is intended for healthcare professionals, is available free of charge and is easy to access online.
“From now on, I can better predict the treatment outcome of the patient sitting across from me in the consulting room with a few mouse clicks,” says neurologist in training and researcher Remi Stevelink. “And that goes for all my colleagues. We hope to contribute to tailor-made treatment and advice for people with juvenile myoclonus epilepsy (JME) worldwide.”
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Lifelong medication
Neurologists generally expect that most patients with JME will get rid of their seizures completely with medication. But how big that chance actually is, it was not possible to say until now. Researchers from 18 different countries collected information about the disease course of 2518 people with JME to find out.
The data showed that three different types of seizures (triggered by menstruation and psychiatric illness) are predictive of poor treatment outcome. “We have combined these predictors in a model that allows us to calculate per person the chance of becoming seizure-free with treatment,” says Stevelink. Because the researchers can now predict who can safely taper off medication, not every patient with JME will have to take medication for the rest of their lives
The results of this research were recently published in eClinicalMedicine.
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