The Ketogenic Diet for Intractable Epilepsy in Adults: Preliminary Results

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Abstract
Summary:Purpose:Little is known concerning the efficacy and adverse effects of the ketogenic diet in adults with refractory epilepsy. This review reports preliminary results in 11 adults prospectively treated with the diet who had previously failed to gain seizure control with two or more medications and/or surgery.Methods:Eleven patients nine women, two men), median age, 32.2 years (range, 19–45 years) were treated with the ketogenic diet with a 4:1 ratio with fluid restriction. Six patients had symptomatic partial epilepsy, and five had symptomatic generalized epilepsy. The diet was administered in addition to antiepileptic medication by a multidisciplinary team geared exclusively to adult patients. Medications were not changed while on the diet. Seizure frequency at 8‐month follow‐up was compared with frequency during a baseline period.Results:At 8 months of follow‐up, three patients had a 90% seizure decrease, three patients had a 50–89% decrease in seizure frequency, one patient had Conclusions:The ketogenic diet shows promise in both adult generalized and partial epilepsy. Persistent ketosis was possible in adults, and the diet was tolerable for most patients. Further study assessing the efficacy of the ketogenic diet, and the cognitive and long‐term effects is ongoing.

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