Brain stimulation as a neuromodulatory epilepsy therapy Andreas Schulze-Bonhage  Seizure - European Journal of Epilepsy  Volume 44, Pages 169-175 (January 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2016.10.026 Copyright © 2016 British Epilepsy Association Terms and Conditions

Fig. 1 Efficacy of transcutaneous and standard vagus nerve stimulation treatment on median seizure frequency in controlled prospective trials. Note that in all peripheral nerve stimulation trials no complete blinding is possible as electrical stimulation is perceived by patients, depending on stimulus intensity, and thus “active controls” with low intensity stimulation are used instead of sham stimulation as applied in studies with intracranial stimulation trials. Seizure - European Journal of Epilepsy 2017 44, 169-175DOI: (10.1016/j.seizure.2016.10.026) Copyright © 2016 British Epilepsy Association Terms and Conditions

Fig. 2 Increase in median seizure reduction from three patient cohorts during a period of 6–72 months after onset of vagus nerve stimulation. Note that concomitant treatments are not controlled, and the patient numbers often considerably decrease with increasing time of follow-up. Seizure - European Journal of Epilepsy 2017 44, 169-175DOI: (10.1016/j.seizure.2016.10.026) Copyright © 2016 British Epilepsy Association Terms and Conditions

Fig. 3 Long-term median seizure reduction in the long-term follow up from the SANTE-trial (stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus, blue line) and from the trial on responsive focus stimulation (red line). Note that concomitant treatments are not controlled, and that patient decrease with increasing time of follow-up. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) Data from Bergey et al. [4], Heck et al. (2014) [50], and Salanova et al. [42]. Seizure - European Journal of Epilepsy 2017 44, 169-175DOI: (10.1016/j.seizure.2016.10.026) Copyright © 2016 British Epilepsy Association Terms and Conditions