Cyberonics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYBX) announced today that Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Therapy, the only FDA-approved implantable medical device for the treatment of refractory epilepsy, will be featured in 14 presentations at the American Epilepsy Society's (AES) Annual Meeting, taking place December 4-8 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
Robert Elliott, M.D., chief resident of Neurosurgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, will present results of the study entitled, "Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Refractory Epilepsy: Single Surgeon Experience of over 700 Consecutive Operations," on Monday, December 7 at 4:00 p.m. The study was designed to analyze the efficacy and safety of VNS Therapy in a large series of consecutive adults and children with medically refractory epilepsy.
Dr. Elliott and his colleagues at NYU Langone Medical Center conducted a retrospective review of 507 consecutive patients with refractory epilepsy who underwent a total of 720 VNS-related procedures between November 1997 and April 2008. Outcome analysis was performed on 436 patients who underwent primary implantation at the center and had at least one year of follow-up since implantation. Duration of VNS Therapy ranged from one week to 11.35 years.
The results showed a more than 50 percent reduction in seizure frequency occurred in 64.6 percent of patients and 42.1 percent of patients experienced more than a 70 percent reduction in seizure frequency. Patients who had failed intracranial epilepsy procedures prior to VNS Therapy had similar outcomes to those who did not have prior surgery. There were no significant differences in efficacy between adults and children.