Responsive neurostimulation (RNS) is an exciting new approach to treating refractory epilepsy. A recent 2 year follow-up study indicates that long-term RNS treatment is safe, and that efficacy improves with time. Although several issues remain to be resolved, RNS is a welcome new arrival in the armamentarium of epilepsy treatments.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Krauss, G. L. & Koubeissi, M. Z. Cerebellar and thalamic stimulation treatment for epilepsy. Acta Neurochir. Suppl. 97, 347–356 (2007).
Morris, G. L. 3rd et al. Evidence-based guideline update: vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of epilepsy: report of the Guideline Development Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology. Epilepsy Curr. 13, 297–303 (2013).
Morrell, M. J. & RNS System in Epilepsy Study Group. Responsive cortical stimulation for the treatment of medically intractable partial epilepsy. Neurology 77, 1295–1304 (2011).
Heck, C. N. et al. Two-year seizure reduction in adults with medically intractable partial onset epilepsy treated with responsive neurostimulation: final results of the RNS System Pivotal trial. Epilepsia 55, 432–441 (2014).
Anderson, W. S., Kudela, P., Weinberg, S., Bergey, G. K. & Franaszczuk, P. J. Phase-dependent stimulation effects on bursting activity in a neural network cortical simulation. Epilepsy Res. 84, 42–55 (2009).
Kossoff, E. H. et al. Effect of an external responsive neurostimulator on seizures and electrographic discharges during subdural electrode monitoring. Epilepsia 45, 1560–1567 (2004).
RNS® System clinical summary. NeuroPace®, Inc. [online], (2013).
Kuba, R. et al. Vagus nerve stimulation: longitudinal follow-up of patients treated for 5 years. Seizure 18, 269–274 (2009).
Fisher, R. et al. Electrical stimulation of the anterior nucleus of thalamus for treatment of refractory epilepsy. Epilepsia 5, 899–908 (2010).
Smith, J. R. et al. Closed-loop stimulation in the control of focal epilepsy of insular origin. Stereotact. Funct. Neurosurg. 88, 281–287 (2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ben-Menachem, E., Krauss, G. Responsive neurostimulation—modulating the epileptic brain. Nat Rev Neurol 10, 247–248 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2014.69
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2014.69