The ketogenic diet for Dravet syndrome and other epileptic encephalopathies: an Italian consensus.

Ketogenic diet is a nonpharmacologic treatment for childhood epilepsy not amenable to drugs. At the present time, two works based on national research, one in Germany and one in the United States provide international guidelines to ensure a correct management of the ketogenic diet. Our Italian collaborative study group was set up in order to formulate a consensus statement regarding the clinical management of the ketogenic diet, patient selection, pre-ketogenic diet, counseling, setting and enforcement of dietary induction of ketosis, follow-up management, and eventual discontinuation of the diet.