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Biomedical subjects

J M Freeman

Publications and source records attributed to J M Freeman.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

The efficacy of the ketogenic diet-1998: a prospective evaluation of intervention in 150 children.

OBJECTIVE: The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-protein, low-carbohydrate diet developed in the 1920s for the treatment of children with difficult to control seizures. Despite advances in both the pharmacotherapy and the surgery of epilepsy, many children continue to have difficult-to-control seizures. This prospective study sought to determine the ketogenic diet's effectiveness and tolerability in children refractory to today's medications. METHODS: One hundred fifty consecutive children, ages 1 to 16 years, virtually all of whom continued to have more than two seizures per week despite adequate therapy with at least two anticonvulsant medications, were prospectively enrolled in this study, treated with the ketogenic diet, and followed for a minimum of 1 year. Seizure frequency was tabulated from patients' daily seizure calendars and seizure reduction calculated as percentage of baseline frequency. Adverse events and reasons for diet discontinuation were recorded. RESULTS: The children (mean age, 5.3 years), averaged 410 seizures per month before the diet, despite an exposure to a mean of 6.2 antiepileptic medications. Three months after diet initiation, 83% of those starting remained on the diet and 34% had >90% decrease in seizures. At 6 months, 71% still remained on the diet and 32% had a >90% decrease in seizures. At 1 year, 55% remained on the diet and 27% had a >90% decrease in seizure frequency. Most of those discontinuing the diet did so because it was either insufficiently effective or too restrictive. Seven percent stopped because of intercurrent illness. CONCLUSIONS: The ketogenic diet should be considered as alternative therapy for children with difficult-to-control seizures. It is more effective than many of the new anticonvulsant medications and is well tolerated by children and families when it is effective.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Why would you remove half a brain? The outcome of 58 children after hemispherectomy-the Johns Hopkins experience: 1968 to 1996.

PURPOSE: To report the outcomes of the 58 hemispherectomies performed at Johns Hopkins between 1968 and January 1996. METHODS: Charts were reviewed of the 58 hemispherectomies performed at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions by the Pediatric Epilepsy Group during the years 1968 to 1996. Twenty-seven operations were done for Rasmussen's syndrome, 24 operations for cortical dysplasias/hemimegalencephalies, and 7 for Sturge-Weber syndrome or other congenital vascular problems. Seizure control alone did not seem to adequately describe the outcomes of the procedure. Therefore, a score was constructed that included seizure frequency, motor disability, and intellectual handicap. This burden of illness score better described the child's handicap before and after surgery. RESULTS: Perioperative death occurred in 4 out of 58 children. Of the 54 surviving children, 54% (29/54) are seizure-free, 24% (13/54) have nonhandicapping seizures, and 23% (12/54) have residual seizures that interfere to some extent with function. Reduction in seizures was related to the etiology of the unilateral epilepsy. Eighty-nine percent of children with Rasmussen's, 67% of those with dysplasias, and 67% of the vascular group are seizure-free, or have occasional, nonhandicapping seizures. All operations were considered by the parents and the physicians to have been successful in decreasing the burden of illness. In 44 the procedure was very successful, in 7 it was moderately successful, and in 3 it was minimally successful. Success was related to the etiology, and early surgery was preferable. CONCLUSION: Hemispherectomy can be a valuable procedure for relieving the burden of seizures, the burden of medication, and the general dysfunction in children with severe or progressive unilateral cortical disease. Early hemispherectomy, although increasing the hemiparesis in children with Rasmussen's syndrome, relieves the burden of constant seizures and allows the child to return to a more normal life. In children with dysplasias, early surgery can allow the resumption of more normal development.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

The ketogenic diet: 1997.

There has been a dramatic resurgence of interest in the ketogenic diet during the past several years. For many children with difficult-to-control epilepsy, the diet presents an alternative approach to trying multiple medications. The ketogenic diet's current success rate, when properly executed, greatly exceeds that of the medications which have recently become available. Its side effects, both cognitive and allergic, appear fewer than most available medications. The ketogenic diet is also cheaper than most new anticonvulsants. Even though we now know that the diet works, we still do not know how it works. Nor do we know how most anticonvulsants work. The mechanism of action of the ketogenic diet appears to rely on a fundamental change in the brain's metabolism from that of a glucose-based energy substrate to a ketone-based substrate. This change is, in some fashion, critical to the maintenance of seizure threshold. Why should the source of the energy make a difference in seizure threshold? The change in seizure threshold appears to occur without affecting the brain's ability to carry out its normal complex functions. Could the brain's utilization of an energy substrate for seizure control be different from its utilization of energy for normal brain function? If so it should it be possible to study the metabolic differences between the two and develop a biochemistry of epilepsy, which is differentiated from the biochemistry of normal cognition and function. The ketogenic diet is successful in controlling or ameliorating a broad spectrum of seizure types and etiologies. Perhaps then, common metabolic pathways, independent of seizure type, are used in the initiation and spread of electrical seizures. Based on clinical experience and limited research data, it would appear that different seizures and different epilepsies must have metabolic pathways in common that make them susceptible to treatment with a common metabolic therapy. If we could understand how the ketogenic diet "works," how changing from a glucose substrate' to a ketone body substrate is anticonvulsant, then perhaps a medication could be developed that would simulate the biochemical effects of the ketogenic diet. Such an approach would be a major departure in the study of the neuroscience of epilepsy. The ketogenic diet offers a new paradigm to think about epilepsy and its treatment, and perhaps will stimulate new approaches to this still often devastating condition.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Hemispherectomy: a hemidecortication approach and review of 52 cases.

Between 1975 and 1994, 52 hemispherectomies, of which two were anatomical and 50 hemidecortications, were performed at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Eighteen patients were 2 years old or less. There were three perioperative mortalities and one patient died 9 months later from causes not related to surgery. One patient developed hydrocephalus 6 years postsurgery and has been treated effectively. Seizure control and the functional status of each patient were measured as outcome variables. Forty-six (96%) of the surviving patients were seizure free or had reduced seizures as of their last follow-up examination. Twenty-one individuals (44%) were participating in age-appropriate classes or working independently, 18 were classified as semiindependent, and nine children will likely depend on a lifetime of assisted living. The relationships between the outcome variables and the patient's age at surgery, the interval to surgery, and the etiology of the disease were compared. The authors' clinical experiences strongly suggest the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to patient selection and follow-up care. Moreover, anesthetic management of infant surgery is a major component of success.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Febrile seizures: a decision-making analysis.

Febrile seizures are the most common type of seizures in childhood. Although febrile seizures may be frightening to observers, they are benign and do not cause death, neurologic damage, injury or learning disorders, and they rarely require medication. Parents of children who have febrile seizures, however, require considerable support, education and reassurance. Appropriate counseling by the physician requires knowledge of the natural history of febrile seizures. Treatment decisions should result from informed and appropriate decision-making about medication and potential risks.

Decision Support Techniques↗
PubMed1994

Does carnitine administration improve the symptoms attributed to anticonvulsant medications?: a double-blinded, crossover study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess the reported improvement in "well-being" perceived by parents when children who are taking anticonvulsant medications are administered carnitine. METHODOLOGY: Forty-seven children with seizures who were taking either valproic acid or carbamazepine were enrolled in a placebo-controlled, double-blinded, cross-over study of the effects of oral carnitine administration (100 mg/kilo) on their well-being as perceived by their parents. The well-being scores were assessed weekly by phone and in person at the start and end of each 4-week phase. RESULTS: The children's well-being scores improved weekly when either placebo or carnitine were administered. None of the analyses of improved well-being achieved statistical significance. CONCLUSION: We believe this study documents the necessity for controlled trials when assessing the subjective, beneficial effects of medications. Carnitine is expensive, costing approximately $.30/kilogram of body weight per day ($6 per day for a 20 kilo child). It would not appear warranted to administer carnitine prophylactically to children on anticonvulsant medications for alleviating common, nonspecific symptoms. Because there are no reliable clinical or laboratory tests of symptomatic carnitine deficiency caused by anticonvulsant administration, how to identify children in need of carnitine, and when to administer carnitine therapeutically to children receiving valproate or other anticonvulsants is unclear.

Carbamazepine↗
PubMed1993

Management at the end of life. A dialogue about intending death.

Physicians and the public at large have strong convictions about many issues, such as abortion, euthanasia, and intending death. The strength of these beliefs often colors the language used in argument and even the perception of the argument itself, highlighting the differences and obscuring the many similarities between the opinions of the parties debating. Such was the case at the start of a conference held in Annapolis, Md, from January 5 through 8, 1992, to explore the topic, "On Intending Death in Medicine."

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1993

Intrauterine repair of experimental surgically created dysraphism.

The paralysis seen in children with myelomeningocele has been attributed to congenital myelodysplasia. Clinical and pathological data, however, suggest that the paralysis may be due in part to a spinal cord injury caused by exposure of the neural tube to the intrauterine environment. This possibility has been supported by experimental data obtained using a fetal rat model of surgically created dysraphism. In this paper, we report the results of intrauterine treatment of experimental dysraphism in the fetal rat and the fetal pig. These studies confirm our earlier findings and suggest that both physical trauma and toxic injury may contribute to the spinal cord injury.

Animals↗