There are no well-validated treatments for functional seizures. While specialist psychotherapy is usually recommended, the evidence for its benefit is qualified, and it can be difficult to obtain. Given the association between hyperventilation and functional seizures we explored an alternative modality, breathing control training, in a multi-site open label pilot trial. Participants with functional seizures over the age of 16 received an hour of breathing training from a respiratory physiotherapist, with a half-hour booster session a month later. Seizure frequency and Nijmegen scores (a measure of hyperventilation) were reported at baseline and follow-up, 3–4 months later. Eighteen subjects were recruited, and 10 completed follow-up. Seven of these 10 had improved seizure frequency, and 3 did not (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p = 0.09), with seizure frequency correlating with Nijmegen score (Spearman's rank correlation = 0.75, p = 0.034). The intervention was well tolerated, with no adverse events reported. These preliminary results support a potentially new approach to treating functional seizures that should prove cost-effective and acceptable, though require confirmation by a randomised controlled trial.

中文翻译：

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功能性癫痫发作的呼吸控制训练：一项多中心、开放标签试点研究

对于功能性癫痫发作，目前还没有经过充分验证的治疗方法。虽然通常建议进行专业心理治疗，但其益处的证据是合格的，而且可能很难获得。鉴于过度换气和功能性癫痫发作之间的关联，我们在多地点开放标签试点试验中探索了另一种方式，即呼吸控制训练。 16 岁以上患有功能性癫痫发作的参与者接受了呼吸物理治疗师的一小时呼吸训练，一个月后进行了半小时的加强训练。在基线和 3-4 个月后的随访中报告癫痫发作频率和奈梅亨评分（过度通气的衡量标准）。招募了 18 名受试者，其中 10 名完成了随访。这 10 名患者中，有 7 名癫痫发作频率有所改善，3 名没有改善（Wilcoxon 符号等级检验，p = 0.09），癫痫发作频率与奈梅亨评分相关（Spearman 等级相关 = 0.75，p = 0.034）。该干预措施耐受性良好，没有不良事件报告。这些初步结果支持一种潜在的治疗功能性癫痫发作的新方法，该方法应该被证明具有成本效益且可接受，但需要随机对照试验的确认。