The role of ketogenic diet in controlling epileptic seizures

OBJECTIVES: To study the role of the ketogenic diet (KD) in controlling seizures in children with medically resistant epilepsy in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted in the Pediatric Neurology Clinic at a tertiary care epilepsy center. Thirty-one patients with medically resistant epilepsy were enrolled from 2013 to 2018. The seizure reduction variables were evaluated at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after enrollment. RESULTS: Of the 31 patients, 14 (45.2%) were males and 17 (54.8%) were females. The most common types of seizures were myoclonic seizures and mixed seizures, both of which occurred in 9 (29%) of the participants. Of the participants, 15 (48.4%) had seizures one to 5 times per day. Six months after starting a KD, 2 (6.45%) of participants were seizure-free; 6 (19.35%) were seizure-free after 12 months of treatment. CONCLUSION: The present study highlighted the effectiveness of KD in medically resistant epilepsy children to local population. A larger cohort is warrant to confirm these findings.