Effects of a ketogenic diet on brain metabolism in epilepsy

Clin Nucl Med. 2013 Jan;38(1):38-9. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0b013e31827082c4.

Abstract

For a subpopulation of drug-resistant epilepsies, a ketogenic diet constitutes the treatment of choice. A ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet, which induces ketosis. Despite the use in treatment of epilepsy since 1924, the clinical efficacy was not demonstrated in a controlled, randomized trial until 2008, showing its capability of reducing seizure frequency with more than 50%. However, the exact mechanism of this form of treatment is still unknown. We report here a patient with drug-resistant epilepsy on a ketogenic diet, where a brain 18F-FDG PET examination demonstrated a severely decreased uptake in the cerebral cortex bilaterally.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Child
  • Diet, Ketogenic*
  • Electroencephalography
  • Epilepsy / diagnostic imaging
  • Epilepsy / diet therapy*
  • Epilepsy / metabolism*
  • Epilepsy / pathology
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Humans
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Substances

  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18