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The Children's Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy Trial

The Children's Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy Trial (CADET): a Pivotal, Randomized, Controlled, Double-blinded Multi-site Clinical Trial of Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat Children With Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06924086
Acronym
CADET
Enrollment
22
Registered
2025-04-11
Start date
2026-03-24
Completion date
2028-01-31
Last updated
2026-04-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Lennox Gastaut Syndrome (LGS)

Keywords

epilepsy, deep brain stimulation, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, pediatric, paediatric, children

Brief summary

The CADET Trial will investigate the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation (DBS) to reduce the frequency of seizures in children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). The CADET Trial will use a non-CE/UKCA marked device - the Picostim DBS system. The SMART-DBS study is a sub-study of the CADET Trial. SMART-DBS will investigate the application of adaptive DBS for the treatment of children with LGS. Children will be recruited after they exit from either the prior 'CADET Pilot Study' or 'CADET Trial' - meaning that these children will already be receiving therapy with an already implanted Picostim device.

Detailed description

All participants will complete a 4 week baseline assessment phase, then surgical implantation of the Picostim device and then a 4 week recovery phase. The participants will thereafter be randomised (1:1) and double-blinded to either an 'early stimulation' (DBS device switched on) or an 'delayed stimulation' (DBS device switched off) arm. Children allocated to receive early stimulation will complete 36 weeks of immediate active stimulation and children allocated to delayed stimulation will complete 12 weeks of inactive stimulation followed by 24 weeks of active stimulation. The primary endpoint for all participants in the trial will be following 24 weeks of active stimulation. Secondary outcomes will be compared between the early and delayed stimulation arms following the first 12 weeks of the controlled phase. The SMART-DBS study will recruit participants from the CADET Trial and the preceding CADET Pilot study. In both the CADET Trial and CADET Pilot studies, participants were fitted with the Picostim device and the device remains active. Participants who potentially meet the eligibility criteria will be provided with the PIS to consider participation in the adaptive DBS study.

Interventions

DEVICEDeep Brain Stimulation

Picostim DBS Device

Sponsors

University College, London
Lead SponsorOTHER
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
CollaboratorOTHER
King's College Hospital NHS Trust
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Oxford
CollaboratorOTHER
King's College London
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
5 Years to 14 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Children enrolled in this study must: * Be 5-14 years of age at consent. * Have a diagnosis of LGS, as determined by: * Slow (\<3.0Hz) spike-and-wave pattern and/or fast wave pattern (tonic seizures) detected on EEG at least six-months prior to the enrolment into the baseline period * History of drop seizures (tonic, atonic, or tonic-clonic) that precedes at least six-months prior to the enrolment into the baseline period * Have experienced at least 10 seizures in the four weeks prior to enrolment. * Have tried and not responded to two or more antiseizure medications prior to enrolment. * Be taking one or more anti-seizure medication(s) at a stable dose for at least the four weeks prior to enrolment. * Have a carer who is willing for their child's maintenance anti-seizure medications and ketogenic diet (if relevant) to be unaltered for the trial duration. * Have a carer who is willing and able to comply with all the requirements of the study, including the completion of the seizure diary and periodic device charging. Children enrolled in this study must not: * Have received prior deep brain stimulation insertion. * Have an active ('on') vagus nerve stimulator (or active within the six months prior to the baseline period). * Have had a change in their anti-seizure medication prescription or stopped their ketogenic diet within the last 4 weeks * Have started or made changes to the prescription of a ketogenic diet within the last 12-weeks * Have abnormal thalamic anatomy detected on imaging that would render DBS either unsafe or unfeasible. * Have a bleeding disorder(s). * Have a medical condition(s)/factor(s) that would increase their anaesthetic risk to an unacceptable level. * Have a nickel allergy. * Be pregnant.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Seizure frequency reduction24 weeks of active stimulation compared to baselineSeizure frequency reduction measured on carer-recorded seizure diaries

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Seizure frequency8-12 weeks following randomisation between the active and inactive stimulation armsSeizure frequency reduction measured on carer-recorded seizure diaries
Seizure severity24 weeks of active stimulation relative to baseline and comparison 12 weeks following randomisation between the active and inactive armsSeizure severity (according to the Hague Seizure Severity Scale). The HSSS scores range from 13 (least severe) and to 53 (most severe).
Quality of life (PedsQL)After 24-weeks of active stimulation, and 12 weeks following randomisation between the active and inactive stimulation armsThe PedsQL (Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory) questionnaire provides a quantitative score ranging from 0 (worst possible QoL) to 100 (best possible QoL) (https://www.pedsql.org/).
Quality of life (IPES)After 24-weeks of active stimulation, and 12 weeks following randomisation between the active and inactive stimulation armsThe Impact of Pediatric Epilepsy Scale (IPES) is a 12-item questionnaire that is answered by the carers of children with epilepsy that, as titled, aims to objectively measure the burden that epilepsy has on the child's life. The IPES scores range from 0 (lowest impact of epilepsy on the participant) to 33 (highest impact of epilepsy on the participant).

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

CONTACTRory J Piper, MRCS, PhD
Rory.Piper@ucl.ac.uk+44 20 7405 9200

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 8, 2026