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Research paper

Corticosteroids versus clobazam for treatment of children with epileptic encephalopathy with spike-wave activation in sleep (RESCUE ESES) — multicentre randomised controlled trial

Underpowered RCT due to enrollment; ~25% IQ improvement in the steroid arm that was not seen in the clobazam arm. Side-effect burden similar. Authors caution that robust randomized evidence remains limited.

Indexed context

van den Munckhof B, et al.

dee-swasesescswssteroidsclobazamrct

Markdown path

content/research/papers/2024-van-den-munckhof-rescue-eses-rct.md

Findings

Underpowered RCT due to enrollment; ~25% IQ improvement in the steroid arm that was not seen in the clobazam arm. Side-effect burden similar. Authors caution that robust randomized evidence remains limited.

Why it may matter for Levi

Best available randomized evidence supporting steroid use in DEE-SWAS; informs Levi's steroid-taper strategy and the choice between monotherapy and combined steroid+benzodiazepine approaches.

Paper text

Corticosteroids versus clobazam for treatment of children with epileptic encephalopathy with spike-wave activation in sleep (RESCUE ESES) — multicentre randomised controlled trial

van den Munckhof B, et al. — Lancet Neurology (2024). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S147444222300409X

Findings summary

Underpowered RCT due to enrollment; ~25% IQ improvement in the steroid arm that was not seen in the clobazam arm. Side-effect burden similar. Authors caution that robust randomized evidence remains limited.

Relevance to Levi

Best available randomized evidence supporting steroid use in DEE-SWAS; informs Levi's steroid-taper strategy and the choice between monotherapy and combined steroid+benzodiazepine approaches.

Provenance

  • Ingested 2026-04-16 as part of the batch literature pass supporting the Root Cause Theories, diagnostics, and treatments workspaces.
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  • Companion memo: content/research/notes/2026-04-16-literature-pass.md