Ketogenic diet therapy for epilepsy during pregnancy and lactation: An international survey exploring clinician perspectives
Most healthcare providers (HCPs) did not advise ketogenic diet therapy (KDT) for epilepsy during pregnancy, though some noted exceptions for glucose transporter type 1 deficiency syndrome. Their main concerns were not having enough information about safety for the parent and fetus and their own lack of experience using KDT during pregnancy. The 40% of HCPs who supported the use of KDT during pregnancy stressed the need for personalized care and close monitoring to reduce risks. Few HCPs have used KDT during lactation. Experts advised using more flexible versions of KDT during lactation. More research is needed.
Authors
- Magnhild Kverneland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1778-0835)
- Elizabeth A. Felton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6461-5758)
- Martina Paola Zanaboni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4902-3126)
- Marisa Armeno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6776-6380)
- Anita Devlin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3814-4777)
- Bobbie J. Henry-Barron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5390-794X)
- Elles van der Louw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3245-0471)
- Kelly Faltersack
- Valentina De Giorgis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5828-7070)
- Mackenzie C. Cervenka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4760-857X)
- Tanya J. W. McDonald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5545-7612)
- Laura Healy
- Mengyang Lu
Institutions
- Oslo University Hospital (NO)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of Pavia (IT)
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (US)
- UW Health University Hospital (US)
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- Instituto de Diagnóstico e Investigaciones Metabólicas (AR)
- Great North Children's Hospital (GB)
- St. James's Hospital (IE)
- Newcastle University (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia Open
- Published
- 2025-05-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/epi4.70067
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Diet and metabolism studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.49
Funders
- Ministero della Salute
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences