Efficacy and Safety of the Ketogenic Diet in Infants Under 3 Months
Abstract number :
2.011
Submission category :
10. Dietary Therapies (Ketogenic, Atkins, etc.)
Year :
2024
Submission ID :
160
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/8/2024 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Authors :
Presenting Author: Shinyoung Jang, MD – Severance Children's Hospital
Ara Ko, MD-PhD – Severance Children's Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Eun Joo Lee, MD – Severance Hospital
Se Hee Kim, MD-PhD – Severance Children's Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Joon Soo Lee, MD-PhD – Severance Children's Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Hoon-Chul Kang, MD-PhD – Severance Children's Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine
Rationale: Traditionally, ketogenic diet was more often recommend in children older than 2 years, due to concerns about developmental impact and potential nutritional deficiencies. However, current studies show that ketogenic diet is effective and safe in young children under 2 years. There are little known about ketogenic diet study in young infants. In this study, we share our experiments in children with epilepsy treated with ketogenic diet under 3 months of age.
Methods: This study was conducted retrospectively. Patients diagnosed as epilepsy and treated with ketogenic diet before 3 months of age were included at Severance Children’s Hospital between 2009 and 2024. Seizure control efficacy was assessed by collecting seizure frequency data from the previous month. Patients with a ≥ 50% reduction in seizures were considered responders, while non-responders included those who discontinued the KD due to poor compliance, adverse events, or the need for epilepsy surgery.
Results: Out of 34 patients who started the KD before 3 months of age, 26 patients were included in the efficacy assessment after 3 months, with a response rate of 73.1%. After 6 months, 18 patients were assessed, and the response rate was 72.2%. When comparing clinical characteristics, Ohtahara syndrome showed a significant difference in response to the KD (p = 0.010), although this difference was not statistically significant when controlled for etiology. Adverse events leading to KD discontinuation were observed in 3 patients (11.5%) within 6 months, including hypoglycemia, aspiration pneumonia, and significant weight loss due to recurrent diarrhea.
Conclusions: The ketogenic diet can be effectively and tolerably administered to young infants less than 3 months old.
Funding: None
Dietary Therapies (Ketogenic, Atkins, etc.)