Viscum Album in the Treatment of a Girl With Refractory Childhood Absence Epilepsy

Abstract

Viscum album (European mistletoe) extracts have known immunomodulatory effects but little data exist on anticonvulsant activity despite its usefulness having been reported for centuries. A 4½-year-old girl with childhood absence epilepsy and global developmental delay was treated with different antiepileptic drugs and ketogenic diet but failed to become seizure free over a 2-year period. She also received different herbal remedies as part of an integrative medicine approach. Initial improvement occurred on valproate-ethosuximide, a further improvement was seen after adding clobazam to valproate. Final cessation of absence activity occurred after a dose increase of V album. She was still seizure free at the 12-month follow-up. V album appears to have been a necessary adjunct treatment for this child to become seizure free. We call on physicians to report their experiences of V album in epilepsy and suggest further study.

Citation: von Schoen-Angerer, T., Madeleyn, R., Kienle, G., Kiene, H., & Vagedes, J. (2015). Viscum Album in the Treatment of a Girl With Refractory Childhood Absence Epilepsy. Journal of Child Neurology, 30(8), 1048–1052. https://doi.org/10.1177/0883073814541473