Do we agree on seizure reduction after vagus nerve stimulation? Interrater reliability of retrospective and prospective seizure frequency ratings from the <scp>CONNECTiVOS</scp> database
This study highlights interrater variability in both retrospective and prospective SFR assessments, a finding systematically related to baseline seizure frequency. Coarser classifications (e.g., 50% or 90% seizure reduction) may improve agreement but reduce clinical nuance. Future efforts should focus on structured, patient-centered documentation and the development of objective outcome measures in VNS evaluation, particularly for children with high seizure burden.
Authors
- Aria Fallah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9703-0964)
- Lyndsey McRae
- Aristides Hadjinicolaou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9926-2080)
- Vann Chau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8260-8738)
- Diane J. Aum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5210-3595)
- Madison Remick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9234-733X)
- Sean M. Lew (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6618-4998)
- Robert J. Bollo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0003-6372)
- Elizabeth Donner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1126-0548)
- Toba N. Niazi
- Thiemo Florin Dinger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7009-9099)
- Dewi Schrader (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0173-2716)
- Ramazan Jabbarli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8356-6629)
- Leeor Yefet
- Jeffrey S. Raskin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1865-9888)
- Alexandre Berger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1739-9623)
- Elizabeth N. Kerr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9589-6502)
- Melissa A. LoPresti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4433-1074)
- Ulrich Sure (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9073-1821)
- Lauren Sham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5447-918X)
- Karim Mithani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8094-3070)
- Ivanna Yau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8549-9618)
- Nisha Gadgil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0215-0703)
- Venethia Danthine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2269-2496)
- Howard L. Weiner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0203-9681)
- Elysa Widjaja (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0986-5476)
- F. Lima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4427-5295)
- Emefa Akwayena
- Shelly Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9112-082X)
- Taylor J. Abel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5089-460X)
- Hrishikesh Suresh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0412-5655)
- Alexander G. Weil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4162-6096)
- George M. Ibrahim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9068-8184)
- Simeon M. Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9070-0665)
- Farbod Niazi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9896-1616)
- Arjun Chandran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1072-2523)
- Puneet Jain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6009-0859)
- Philippe Major (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0507-2543)
- Matthew D. Smyth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0050-0518)
- Shelly Weiss
- Eisha Christian
- James T. Rutka
- Jignesh Tailor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9597-9543)
- Hosni Abu Alhasan
- Hanan Al‐Johani
Institutions
- Lurie Children's Hospital (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Medical College of Wisconsin (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine (CA)
- University of Rochester Medical Center (US)
- Mental Health Research Canada (CA)
- Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (US)
- Indiana University Bloomington (US)
- Essen University Hospital (DE)
- SickKids Foundation (CA)
- Miami Children's Hospital (US)
- Texas Children's Hospital (US)
- BC Children's Hospital (CA)
- University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Epilepsia
- Published
- 2025-11-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.70031
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.68
Funders
- Hospital for Sick Children