T-GaiD: Treatment of Gait disorders in Dravet syndrome.

Dravet syndrome is a severe infantile onset epilepsy syndrome with a prevalence of 1/15.000 to 1/30.000. An infant with an apparently normal development presents around 6 months of age with a convulsive status epilepticus. Seizures can be triggered by fever, illness or vaccination. Because of its drug-resistance, in the past, most attention has been paid to seizure control. However, developmental and behavioural problems also become a serious concern during the second year of life. Outcome is poor, with intellectual disability and ongoing seizures. On the long term, the deterioration in gait is very characteristic. A crouch gait pattern develops that largely impacts the daily life functioning. Most children maintain the ability to walk around the house, but for longer distances they must rely on wheel-chair use, which further negatively affects their mobility. Gait analysis, when combined with physical examination, provides quantitative information to guide treatment of gait disorders and assess its outcome. The goal of this project is the development of a clinical decision framework based upon 3D gait analysis to diagnose and treat mobility problems in children with Dravet syndrome. Two major university hospitals in Flanders (UZA and UZ Leuven) are partners in this project. The parent organisation "Stichting Dravetsyndroom Nederland/Vlaanderen" will also participate, as intermediate partner to facilitate contacts between all parties being patients and their caregivers, clinical gait labs and treating physicians.

Keywords:GAIT ANALYSIS, REHABILITATION, DRAVET SYNDROME

Disciplines:Orthopaedics, Human movement and sports sciences, Rehabilitation sciences

Project type:Collaboration project