ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT03490487Updated Aug 13, 2020

Electroclinical Effect of Steroid in Patients With Benign Childhood Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes

A Phase 4 interventional study of conventional antiepileptic drugs and oral steroid in Benign Childhood Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes, sponsored by Assiut University. Status unknown at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 3 Years to 14 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-08-13.

Sponsored by Assiut University · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Aug 2020), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
100
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
3 Years to 14 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes is the most common type of focal epilepsy in children. It is known to be age-dependent and presumably genetic. Age of onset ranges from one to fourteen years and it represents fifteen percent to twenty five percent of epilepsy in children under 15 years of age.

Read the detailed description

Generally, Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes is characterized by infrequent focal sensorimotor seizures in the face during sleep, which may secondarily generalize, along with spike-wave discharges, reflecting nonlesional cortical excitability from rolandic regions.

The prognosis is usually considered to be excellent. Over the past years, however, some investigators have questioned whether Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes is indeed benign, considering the variety of different presentations associated with the disorder.It is not uncommon for Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes to be associated with neuropsychological deficits, such as linguistic, cognitive, and behavioral impairment. In particular, reading difficulties and speech/language disorders are more common in children with Benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes than in healthy controls.Various neuropsychological deficits seem to be very dependent on the spike index, as well as the predominant localization of epileptiform discharges.Furthermore, the frequency of epileptiform discharges is closely related not only to the degree of neuropsychological deficits, but also to an atypical evolution of benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes.

The high comorbid prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and epilepsy suggests that there is a bidirectional relationship between these disorders .Cognitive impairment and attention problems are particularly crucial issues in children with epilepsy who are in a vigorous phase of neurodevelopment.

Resolution of continuous spike-and-wave during sleep had been achieved with conventional antiepileptic drugs including ethosuximide, valproic acid, levetiracetam, and sulthiame. When these agents fail to normalize the EEG, a trial with second-line agents such as steroids or high-dose diazepam is attempted.

02

Conditions studied

  • Benign Childhood Epilepsy With Centrotemporal Spikes

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03

In context

Epilepsy, Rolandic

23 studies on the registry are indexed under Epilepsy, Rolandic; 3 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 100 is above the median of 44 across 13 interventional studies indexed under Epilepsy, Rolandic.

Browse Epilepsy, Rolandic studies →

Lead sponsor

Assiut University is the lead sponsor of 5,078 studies on the registry; 2,178 are open to participants now.

Of its 14 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 0 (0%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
3 Years to 14 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • History and EEG findings of benign epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Genetic disorders.
  • Metabolic or neurodegenerative disease.
  • Gross motor delay.
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Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Factorial assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
100 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    A antiepileptic

    will receive conventional antiepileptic drugs only

    Drug: conventional antiepileptic drugs

  • Experimental
    B steroid

    will receive oral steroid for 3 months beside conventional antiepileptic drugs

    Drug: conventional antiepileptic drugs · Drug: oral steroid

Interventions

  • Drugconventional antiepileptic drugs

    will receive conventional antiepileptic drugs only. EEG, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder test and intelligence quotient will be done before and 3 months after treatment.

    Also known as: carbamazepine, valproate, oxcarbazepine or levetiracetam

  • will receive oral steroid for 3 months beside conventional antiepileptic drugs. EEG, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder test and intelligence quotient will be done before and 3 months after treatment.

    Also known as: Prednisolone

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To detect the effect of oral steroids on normalization of sleep EEG.

    follow up Electroencephalography and calculation of spike-wave index before and after three months of treatment with steroid.Any reduction in spike wave index on electroencephalograph after receiving steroid will be considered improvement.The EEG technicians will be requested to perform a prolonged daytime nap EEG. The researcher first will look at the full sleep recording and visually pick the epoch with the highest spike density. The counting start with a page of a high spike density and continued for 10 consecutive minutes. Each page will be scored separately. Each second which contained spikes, either focal or generalized, will be considered positive, and the total number of positive seconds per page will be calculated as percents of the whole page. At the end of the counting, an average of 60 pages (10 min) will be performed and then displayed in terms of the nearest ten percentile number.

    Time frame: 3 months

  2. To detect the effect of oral steroids regarding improvement of cognitive functions of patients with BECTS.

    Intelligence quotient assessment with Stanford-Binet scales will be done before and after three months of treatment with steroid. Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Fourth Edition) score: very superior (140 and above), superior (120-139), high average (110-119), normal average (90-109), low average (80-89), borderline defective (70-79), mentally defective (30-69). Higher scores will be considered a better or outcome.

    Time frame: 3 months

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Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Assiut university
    Assiut, 71515, Egypt
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Fejerman N, Caraballo R, Tenembaum SN. [Atypical evolutions of benign partial epilepsy of infancy with centro-temporal spikes]. Rev Neurol. 2000 Aug 16-31;31(4):389-96. Spanish. PubMed 11008297 ↗
  • Ay Y, Gokben S, Serdaroglu G, Polat M, Tosun A, Tekgul H, Solak U, Kesikci H. Neuropsychologic impairment in children with rolandic epilepsy. Pediatr Neurol. 2009 Nov;41(5):359-63. doi: 10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2009.05.013. PubMed 19818938 ↗
  • Danielsson J, Petermann F. Cognitive deficits in children with benign rolandic epilepsy of childhood or rolandic discharges: a study of children between 4 and 7 years of age with and without seizures compared with healthy controls. Epilepsy Behav. 2009 Dec;16(4):646-51. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.08.012. Epub 2009 Oct 29. PubMed 19879197 ↗
  • Clarke T, Strug LJ, Murphy PL, Bali B, Carvalho J, Foster S, Tremont G, Gagnon BR, Dorta N, Pal DK. High risk of reading disability and speech sound disorder in rolandic epilepsy families: case-control study. Epilepsia. 2007 Dec;48(12):2258-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.01276.x. Epub 2007 Sep 10. PubMed 17850323 ↗
  • Kanemura H, Sano F, Aoyagi K, Sugita K, Aihara M. Do sequential EEG changes predict atypical clinical features in rolandic epilepsy? Dev Med Child Neurol. 2012 Oct;54(10):912-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04358.x. Epub 2012 Jul 4. PubMed 22759211 ↗
  • Kwon S, Hwang TG, Lee J, Kim DK, Seo HE. Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: to treat or not to treat. J Epilepsy Res. 2013 Jun 30;3(1):1-6. doi: 10.14581/jer.13001. eCollection 2013 Jun. PubMed 24649464 ↗
  • Kwon S, Seo HE, Hwang SK. Cognitive and other neuropsychological profiles in children with newly diagnosed benign rolandic epilepsy. Korean J Pediatr. 2012 Oct;55(10):383-7. doi: 10.3345/kjp.2012.55.10.383. Epub 2012 Oct 29. PubMed 23133485 ↗
  • Inutsuka M, Kobayashi K, Oka M, Hattori J, Ohtsuka Y. Treatment of epilepsy with electrical status epilepticus during slow sleep and its related disorders. Brain Dev. 2006 Jun;28(5):281-6. doi: 10.1016/j.braindev.2005.09.004. Epub 2006 Jan 10. PubMed 16376508 ↗
  • Kramer U, Sagi L, Goldberg-Stern H, Zelnik N, Nissenkorn A, Ben-Zeev B. Clinical spectrum and medical treatment of children with electrical status epilepticus in sleep (ESES). Epilepsia. 2009 Jun;50(6):1517-24. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01891.x. Epub 2008 Nov 19. PubMed 19054417 ↗
  • Guerrini R, Genton P, Bureau M, Parmeggiani A, Salas-Puig X, Santucci M, Bonanni P, Ambrosetto G, Dravet C. Multilobar polymicrogyria, intractable drop attack seizures, and sleep-related electrical status epilepticus. Neurology. 1998 Aug;51(2):504-12. doi: 10.1212/wnl.51.2.504. PubMed 9710026 ↗
  • Scheltens-de Boer M. Guidelines for EEG in encephalopathy related to ESES/CSWS in children. Epilepsia. 2009 Aug;50 Suppl 7:13-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1528-1167.2009.02211.x. PubMed 19682043 ↗
  • Chou IC, Chang YT, Chin ZN, Muo CH, Sung FC, Kuo HT, Tsai CH, Kao CH. Correlation between epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a population-based cohort study. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e57926. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057926. Epub 2013 Mar 6. PubMed 23483944 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Jun 2018 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2020, 29 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Feb 18, 2018
First posted
Apr 6, 2018
StartActual
Jun 20, 2018
Primary completionEst.
Dec 15, 2020
CompletionEst.
Dec 25, 2020
Last update
Aug 13, 2020
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 13, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03490487
Lead sponsor
Assiut University
Responsible party
Khalaf A Sayed (Principal Investigator, Assiut University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 6, 2018
Start date
Jun 20, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 15, 2020 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 25, 2020 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 13, 2020

Study contacts

Gamal A Abdelal, MD
Contact
Gamal.asker@med.au.edu.eg
+201111686162
Nafisa H Rifaat, MD
Contact
nrefat@aun.edu.eg
+201003472082
Gamal A Abdelal, MD
study director · Assiut University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Steroids

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