January 29, 2025 “We wish to determine whether adding ketamine to existing treatment would terminate status epilepticus in more patients than the current treatment,” said neurologist Jaideep Kapur, MD, PhD, co-director of UVA’s Brain Institute and an epileptologist (epilepsy expert) at UVA Health and the School of Medicine. “Our hope is that this trial can improve treatment guidelines for patients suffering from these dangerous seizures.” University of Virginia Brain Institute and School of Medicine researchers have received an initial $9.3 million award from the National Institutes of Health for a $30 million clinical trial to determine if the powerful anesthetic ketamine can save patients from prolonged, life-threatening grand mal seizures that won’t respond to other treatments.
“Status epilepticus,” as the seizures are known, are seizures that last more than five minutes or that strike repeatedly without the person regaining consciousness between seizures. These ceaseless seizures are considered a medical emergency and can require intubation and lead to permanent brain damage or even death.
The seizures are typically treated with anticonvulsants called benzodiazepines. However, many patients – both adults and children – don’t respond to those drugs.
UVA’s new trial, called the Ketamine add-on therapy for the Established Status Epilepticus Treatment Trial, or KESETT, will evaluate whether adding ketamine to the standard treatment helps improve outcomes for patients suffering status epilepticus.
“We wish to determine whether adding ketamine to existing treatment would terminate status epilepticus in more patients than the current treatment,” said neurologist Jaideep Kapur, MD, PhD, co-director of UVA’s Brain Institute and an epileptologist (epilepsy expert) at UVA Health and the School of Medicine. “Our hope is that this trial can improve treatment guidelines for patients suffering from these dangerous seizures.” Stopping Status Epilepticus
UVA’s new trial builds on its previous Established Status Epilepticus
Treatment Trial (ESETT), which provided the first definitive answers about how and when three drugs commonly used to treat status epilepticus should be used. Prior to the trial, doctors had little understanding of the drugs’ effectiveness or when each should be deployed. In the end, the researchers determined that the drugs – levetiracetam, fosphenytoin and valproate – were all […]
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