The Efficacy of a Subanesthetic Doses of IV Ketamine in the Treatment Drug Resistant Epilepsy

NCT ID: NCT05019885

Last Updated: 2025-08-15

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

8 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-08-26

Study Completion Date

2026-03-31

Brief Summary

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Ketamine is a medication that came into clinical practice in the 1960's. Ketamine is used as an anesthetic and to provide pain relief. Recently, Ketamine was approved to treat drug resistant depression using subanesthetic doses. In the hospital setting, intravenous anesthetic dosages are used to treat unrelenting seizures known as status epilepticus in comatose patients. Ketamine in subanesthetic doses has not been tried as a treatment for medication resistant seizures in the outpatient setting. This study would like to examine the effectiveness of subanesthetic ketamine in outpatients who suffer from drug resistant epilepsy.

Detailed Description

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This is an open label pilot study that will evaluate the effectiveness of a sub-anaesthetic dose (0.5mg/kg) of IV Ketamine in Drug Resistant Epilepsy Patients. Mood assessments will also be administered. The study consists of 3 phases:

Screening : Seizure diary will be prospectively filled for 4 weeks and subjects must have at least 4 seizures in 28 days to proceed to the treatment phase. Baseline mood assessment will be performed (NDDI-E, QOLIE-10, GAD 7 )

Treatment Phase: This phase will consist of 6 study visits (3 visits/ week for 2 weeks). Patients will receive 0.5mg/kg Racemic ketamine IV over 40 min three times a week (M, W, F) for 2 consecutive weeks.

Treatment Visit 1: Monday Week 5(baseline seizures diary collected) Treatment Visit 2: Wednesday Week 5 Treatment Visit 3: Friday Week 5 Treatment Visit 4: Monday Week 6 Treatment Visit 5: Wednesday Week 6 Treatment Visit 6: Friday Week 6 (Mood assessments performed prior to infusion)

Post- Treatment Phase : This phase will consist of 5 post infusion safety assessments and 3 post-treatment assessments.

Post-Infusion Safety Assessment 1: Saturday Week 6 (Adverse Event Assessment) Post-Infusion Safety Assessment 2: Sunday Week 7 (Adverse Event Assessment) Post-Infusion Safety Assessment 3: Monday Week 7 (Adverse Event Assessment) Post-Infusion Safety Assessment 4: Monday Week 8 (Adverse Event Assessment) Post-Infusion Safety Assessment 5: Monday Week 9 (Adverse Event Assessment)

Post-Treatment Assessment 1: phone call week 10 (Seizure diary collection, mood assessments performed) Post-Treatment Assessment 2: phone call week 14 (Seizure diary) Post-Treatment Assessment 3: phone call week 18 (Seizure diary collection, mood assessments performed)

Conditions

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Drug Resistant Epilepsy Medically Refractory Epilepsy Refractory Epilepsy

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Experimental clinical treatment
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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IV Ketamine Hydrochloride

dose 0.5mg/kg of IV Ketamine Hydrochloride over 40 min

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Ketamine Hydrochloride

Intervention Type DRUG

Three times a week (M, W, F) for 2 consecutive weeks.

Interventions

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Ketamine Hydrochloride

Three times a week (M, W, F) for 2 consecutive weeks.

Intervention Type DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Provision of signed and dated informed consent form
* Adults (18 years or older)
* Cognitively impaired adults are not excluded (i.e. will be included in the study)
* Established diagnosis of Drug Resistant Epilepsy (DRE) i.e. failed two or more appropriately chosen anti-seizure medications (ASMs)
* EEG consistent with focal or generalized epilepsy
* Patients must have \>4 focal aware, focal impaired aware, focal to bilateral tonic clonic or generalized tonic clonic seizures per month.
* Patients can be on \>/= 1 anti-seizure medication (ASM) at the time of enrollment on stable doses 12 weeks prior to initiation
* Patients on Epilepsy devices: Vagal nerve stimulator (VNS), Deep brain stimulator (DBS) or Responsive Nerve Stimulator (RNS) must have remained stable for at least 4 weeks before the screening visit. Adjustment of devices is not allowed during the study.

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients \<18 years of age
* Pregnant women
* Women that are breast feeding
* Patients who had \>21 days of seizure freedom in the last year.
* Patients with a history of status epilepticus within 3 months of screening
* Patients with a history of alcoholism of drug misuse within the last 2 years
* Unstable medical illness
* Serious or imminent suicidal or homicidal risk
* Patients with cardiovascular disease
* Patients with schizophrenia
* Patients with history of aneurysm or aortic dissection, arteriovenous malformation and intracerebral hemorrhage
* Patients that are immobile i.e. wheel chair bound, bed ridden individuals
* Patients on psychostimulants (amphetamines, methylphenidate etc.) and Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (selegiline, isocarboxazid, phenelzine etc.)
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Madeline Fields

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Madeline Fields

Associate Professor of Neurology Co-Director Mount Sinai Epilepsy Center

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Madeline Fields, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Icahn School of Medicine

Lara Marcuse, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Icahn School of Medicine

Locations

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Mount Sinai Hospital

New York, New York, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Onome Eka, MBBS MPH

Role: CONTACT

212-241-8861 ext. 48861

Facility Contacts

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Onome Eka, MBBS MPH

Role: primary

9179825055 ext. 48861

References

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Other Identifiers

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STUDY-20-01911

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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