Clinical trial NCT00835627: Treatment Trial for Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures
Official title: Medication and Psychotherapy Treatment Trial for Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: PHASE4
Conditions: Convulsion, Non-Epileptic
Conversion Disorder
Depression
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Dissociative Disorders
Keywords: Treatment
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
pharmacotherapy
psychogenic nonepileptic seizures
pseudoseizures
dissociative seizures
conversion disorder
Lead sponsor: Rhode Island Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: American Epilepsy Society
name: Epilepsy Foundation
name: University of Cincinnati
name: Stanford University
First posted: 2009-02-03
Enrollment: 38
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 95
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The investigators propose that patients who receive targeted pharmacotherapy (sertraline) or focused psychotherapy (cognitive behavioral therapy-informed psychotherapy (CBT-ip) for NES) or combined treatment (CBT-ip + sertraline) will report fewer nonepileptic seizures (NES) compared to patients who receive community care / treatment as usual (TAU). The purpose of this study is to provide pilot testing and data to inform the future multicenter randomized controlled trial based on the hypothesis.

Detailed description: This is a pilot, prospective, multi-center, randomized controlled trial, that assesses the number of NES in patients treated with either flexible dose sertraline (Zoloft), cognitive behavioral therapy-informed psychotherapy (CBT-ip), combined therapy (sertraline + CBT-ip) or community care (treatment as usual TAU). This study will provide outcomes data and the effect size necessary for a future R01, multi-center randomized control trial. Secondary objective variables include reduction in depression, anxiety, impulsivity scores, and improvement in psychosocial functioning.

After being diagnosed with NES by video EEG monitoring (vEEG), up to 40 participants will be enrolled and monitored during a two week lead in period for their baseline NES and psychosocial symptoms and functioning. At week 2, they will be randomized to either: flexible dose sertraline (25 to 200mg), CBT, CBT+med, or to the control arm, TAU. Participants randomized to the sertraline arm will be titrated over 6 weeks up to 200mg or to dose limited by side effects. The subjects will stay on their maximum fixed dose for the next 4 weeks. At week 10, the subjects may elect to remain on the sertraline or they can taper off the medication over the final two weeks of the treatment trial. Those randomized to the CBT-ip arm will receive 12 weekly sessions of CBT-ip for NES. Those randomized to the CBT-ip + med arm will receive both treatments. Those randomized to the TAU arm will follow with their treatment providers.

After the treatment trial, the subjects will have follow up phone calls at month 4, 8, and 12 after enrollment to assess seizure status, medication usage, and global functioning.

Upon enrollment, subjects will be evaluated with a structured psychiatric and neurological exam, and with bi-weekly, 30 to 60 minute appointments where they will complete symptom and function scales. They will keep a seizure diary to evaluate their daily seizure activity.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Video electroencephalogram (EEG) confirmed diagnosis of NES
* Have at least one nonepileptic seizure per month
* Able to complete self report symptom scales
* Not receiving optimized sertraline

Exclusion Criteria:

* Equivocal EEG findings
* using monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), pimozide, or sumatriptan
* allergy/sensitivity to sertraline
* current alcohol/drug dependence
* serious medical illness requiring current hospitalization

Primary outcomes:
measure: seizure frequency
timeFrame: weekly
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Identify predictors of response from the following 3 groups: clinical diagnoses
timeFrame: baseline
measure: psychological symptoms
timeFrame: bi-weekly
measure: socio-demographic variables
timeFrame: bi-weekly
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Stanford
country: United States
facility: Stanford University
state: California
city: Cincinnati
country: United States
facility: University of Cincinnati
state: Ohio
city: Providence
country: United States
facility: Rhode Island Hospital
state: Rhode Island
Study officials:
affiliation: Rhode Island Hospital / Brown Medical School
name: W. Curt LaFrance, Jr., MD, MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: LaFrance WC. How many patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures also have epilepsy? Neurology. 2002 Mar 26;58(6):990; author reply 990-1. doi: 10.1212/wnl.58.6.990. No abstract available.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Devinsky O. Treatment of nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsy Behav. 2002 Oct;3(5 Suppl):19-23. doi: 10.1016/s1525-5069(02)00505-4.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Devinsky O. The treatment of nonepileptic seizures: historical perspectives and future directions. Epilepsia. 2004;45 Suppl 2:15-21. doi: 10.1111/j.0013-9580.2004.452002.x.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Barry JJ. Update on treatments of psychological nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsy Behav. 2005 Nov;7(3):364-74. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.07.010. Epub 2005 Sep 16.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Alper K, Babcock D, Barry JJ, Benbadis S, Caplan R, Gates J, Jacobs M, Kanner A, Martin R, Rundhaugen L, Stewart R, Vert C; NES Treatment Workshop participants. Nonepileptic seizures treatment workshop summary. Epilepsy Behav. 2006 May;8(3):451-61. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.02.004. Epub 2006 Mar 15.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr. Use of serum prolactin in diagnosing epileptic seizures: report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Neurology. 2006 Apr 25;66(8):1287-8; author reply 1287-8. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000222496.94195.14. No abstract available.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Benbadis SR. Avoiding the costs of unrecognized psychological nonepileptic seizures. Neurology. 2006 Jun 13;66(11):1620-1. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000224953.94807.be. No abstract available.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Blum AS, Miller IW, Ryan CE, Keitner GI. Methodological issues in conducting treatment trials for psychological nonepileptic seizures. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007 Fall;19(4):391-8. doi: 10.1176/jnp.2007.19.4.391.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Rusch MD, Machan JT. What is "treatment as usual" for nonepileptic seizures? Epilepsy Behav. 2008 Apr;12(3):388-94. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2007.12.017. Epub 2008 Feb 20.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr. Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Curr Opin Neurol. 2008 Apr;21(2):195-201. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0b013e3282f7008f.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Baker GA, Duncan R, Goldstein LH, Reuber M. Minimum requirements for the diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: a staged approach: a report from the International League Against Epilepsy Nonepileptic Seizures Task Force. Epilepsia. 2013 Nov;54(11):2005-18. doi: 10.1111/epi.12356. Epub 2013 Sep 20.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Reuber M, Goldstein LH. Management of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Epilepsia. 2013 Mar;54 Suppl 1:53-67. doi: 10.1111/epi.12106.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Deluca M, Machan JT, Fava JL. Traumatic brain injury and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures yield worse outcomes. Epilepsia. 2013 Apr;54(4):718-25. doi: 10.1111/epi.12053. Epub 2013 Jan 2.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Alosco ML, Davis JD, Tremont G, Ryan CE, Keitner GI, Miller IW, Blum AS. Impact of family functioning on quality of life in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures versus epilepsy. Epilepsia. 2011 Feb;52(2):292-300. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2010.02765.x. Epub 2011 Feb 7.
citation: LaFrance WC Jr, Baird GL, Barry JJ, Blum AS, Frank Webb A, Keitner GI, Machan JT, Miller I, Szaflarski JP; NES Treatment Trial (NEST-T) Consortium. Multicenter pilot treatment trial for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2014 Sep;71(9):997-1005. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.817.