NCT07888543Recruiting
Study of the Link Between Structural Alterations in the Hypothalamus and Cardiac Dysautonomia in Drug-resistant Epilepsy
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 22 Oct 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
Patients with drug-resistant epilepsy may have cardiac dysautonomia, with reduced heart rate variability and increased sympathetic tone. This condition is part of the concept of "epileptic heart" and could be a risk factor for sudden death, one of the main causes of excess mortality in patients with severe epilepsy in adulthood. The mechanism of this cardiac impairment is poorly understood. The hypothalamus, due to its role as the subcortical conductor of the autonomic nervous system and its known links with the limbic system, particularly the amygdala and hippocampus, is a candidate for a key intermediary role in the impact of seizures on cardiorespiratory function. The investigators wish to investigate the hypothesis that cardiac dysautonomia in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy is correlated with structural changes in the hypothalamus. The investigators wish to study in 7Tesla MRI the volume of the different hypothalamic nuclei, the amygdalo- hypothalamic and hypothalamo-bulbar connectivity, as well as the metabolic content in spectroscopy in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy, and correlate these data with the sympathetic and parasympathetic tones of these patients.
- Status (registry)
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 20 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 8 Oct 2026
- Start date
- 10 Sept 2026
- Primary completion date
- Feb 2028
- Lead sponsor
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Amiens
- Diseases
- Epilepsy
- NCT number
- NCT07888543
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Planned participants: 20
- From 10 Sept 2026 to the primary completion date, Feb 2028
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Other illness
- Claustrophobia, or any other condition that prevents the patient from remaining in the MRI machine for 40 minutes
- History of cardiovascular disorders: arrhythmia, conduction disorders, myocardial infarction, high blood pressure.
- History of endocrine disorders, precocious puberty, intellectual disability, eating disorders (obesity BMI\>35, anorexia)
- Patients with dissociative functional seizures
- Patients with epilepsy related to hypothalamic hamartoma or a genetic cause identified in genes coding for ion channels, particularly SCN1A, SCN1B, and CACNa1a
Other
- Pregnant women
- Contraindications to MRI
Who the study is looking for
- Patients \> 18 years old
- With drug-resistant epilepsy
- Followed up at Amiens Picardie University Hospital
- With at least one seizure recorded by video-EEG (or SEEG) in the 4 years prior to inclusion
- Having had a good-quality electroencephalogram with ECG within the last 6 months prior to inclusion
- Having given their informed consent, both verbally and in writing.
- Covered by Social Security
Age in the registry: 18 years to - · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amiens University Hospital Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Amiens | France | Recruiting |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.