Pacer for seizures

More than 2.7 million americans suffer from some form of epilepsy. But as Dr. Tracy Wimbush reports, there may soon be a new treatment for children with this seizure disorder.

Every day, more than 300-thousand parents worry -- Is this the day my child will have an epileptic seizure?

Many of those children can take medication to control the disorder. But for about one in three - no medicine can help. But now, there is new hope for young children.

For nearly five years, Colton Hinerman and his mom, Katie, didn't know what a good night's sleep was.

As soon as he would drift off, Colton would get seizures - nearly 20 of them every night.
"I'd be there all night and i'd have to give him Valium," recalls Katie.

Every drug that doctors tried either didn't work or gave colton bad side effects that made it tough to get through school. And his mother and doctor worried about long term damage from not keeping his seizures under control.

"Seizures over time, especially in the developing brain, are harmful. Both from a social perspective, but also from a cognitive or thinking perspective," states Dr. Juliann Paolicchi of Columbus's Children's Hospital.

But the physician/researcher found hope in a nerve stimulator that acts like a pacemaker.
It's implanted in the chest and connects to the vagus nerve in the neck. It controls signals to the brain that cause seizures.

Adults and teens have used them for years, but in an FDA approved study, Dr Paolicchi tested them in younger children.

In nearly half of those children, seizures were cut by 75 percent - and injuries related to seizures dropped dramatically.

If patients feel a seizure coming on, they can even treat themselves by swiping a special magnet to activate the device.

"They finally have something that controls the seizure at the time that they actually experience it," states Dr. Paolicchi.

For Colton, the seizures stopped once he got a vagus nerve stimulator. Now, having his magnet by his bedside means he and his mom can get a good night's sleep.

Right now, the vagus nerve stimulator is FDA approved for children 12 and up. The FDA is reviewing Dr. Paolicchi's research and may change that policy.