Assessment of vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy: Report of the Therapeutics and Technology Assessment Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology [RETIRED]

Abstract

This assessment was compiled from literature obtained primarily by search of the Medline database, under the key words phrase "vagus nerve," and"neurostimulation," joined by the logical "OR," and then joined by a logical"AND" with "epilepsy," for the time period 1966 to 1996. A total of 104 articles were found by this search strategy. Titles and abstracts (where available) were reviewed to select relevant articles. Additional written material, including a compendium of abstracts on VNS (not listed in Medline), was solicited and obtained from Cyberonics. A draft of this review was prepared from the written material, circulated to committee members, and thereby revised. Consensus was reached by written communications and phone conferences among members of the committee.