NCT04614506

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Measure Cortical Excitability in Dravet Syndrome

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 6 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Boston Children's Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Months – 30 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Dravet syndrome (DS) is an epileptic encephalopathy caused by pathogenic variants in the SCN1A gene resulting in medically refractory epilepsy and psychomotor delays. As a pilot study assessing for feasibility, the investigators aim to test whether alterations in cortical excitatory:inhibitory ratio can be reliably recorded. The investigators will utilize transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) metrics of cortical excitatory and inhibitory tone as an initial step towards translating findings from rodent genetic models of DS into disease-specific biomarkers and offer future measures of therapeutic target engagement in this patient population. Participants will complete two visits, each consisting of a TMS session and an EEG session. Visits will be scheduled 4-8 weeks apart.

Detailed description

This is a single site study to be conducted at Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) investigating the neurophysiological biomarkers of epilepsy and developmental disability in children and young adults with Dravet Syndrome. Mechanistically, the features of the DS phenotype are attributable to a loss of cortical inhibition. TMS is a non-invasive form of focal cortical stimulation in which an external powerful magnet induces an electrical field intracranially over the stimulated region that is used to interrogate or modulate states of cortical excitation or inhibition. Accordingly, the investigators propose to test whether metrics of cortical excitability and inhibition can be obtained by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and EEG in patients with DS.

Conditions

• Dravet Syndrome

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)	Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a method for noninvasive electrical cortical stimulation, where small intracranial currents are generated by a powerful, fluctuating, extracranial magnetic field. TMS is unique in its capacity for experimental, diagnostic, and therapeutic utility. Single pulse (spTMS) and paired-pulse TMS (ppTMS) have been used extensively to study, measure, and modulate cortical excitability and plasticity.
DEVICE	Electroencephalogram (EEG)	These will be an ambulatory EEG recordings that span 24 hours and done without sedation. Recordings will be performed using electrode locations specified by the international 10-20 system for standard clinical practice.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-11-02
• Primary completion: 2022-12-01
• Completion: 2022-12-01
• First posted: 2020-11-04
• Last updated: 2022-03-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States