Methods: A Markov decision analytical model was constructed to estimate the incremental costs,
quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and successfully treated patient (i.e. 50% or more seizure
reduction) of the treatment strategies KD, VNS and CAU, from a health care perspective. The
base case considered children with intractable epilepsy (i.e. two or more antiepileptic drugs had
failed) aged between 1 and 18 years. Data were derived from literature and expert meetings.
Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed.