A Clinical Evaluation of Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Temper Outbursts in People With PWS

Last updated: April 3, 2026
Sponsor: Foundation for Prader-Willi Research
Overall Status: Active - Not Recruiting

Phase

3

Condition

Hypogonadism

Severe Short Stature

Treatment

tVNS, intermittent stimulation

tVNS, continuous stimulation

Clinical Study ID

NCT06144645
FPWR-VNS-R-3-01
  • Ages 10-40
  • All Genders

Study Summary

The goal of the VNS4PWS clinical study is to test the efficacy, safety, and acceptability of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) treatment in people with PWS.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Genetically proven diagnosis of PWS.

  2. Age 10-40 years.

  3. History in the last six months of an average of at least two temper outbursts perweek.

  4. Able to comply with requirements of study and provide consent or assent; If consentis to be provided by the participant's guardian, same applies to the guardian.

  5. Concomitant use of psychiatric medication is allowed; participant must be on astable dose 90 days prior to screening with no plans for dose modification duringthe course of the study.

  6. Concomitant use of psychotherapy/counseling is allowed. Therapies for mental healthor behavior challenges, including applied behavior analysis (ABA) are also allowed;however, participant must be on a stable regimen 90 days prior to screening with noplans for modification during the course of the study.

  7. Living with family or in another setting with family members or staff willing tosupport the participant and the required data collection.

  8. Agree to share tVNS patient application compliance and daily temper outburst datawith the sponsor.

  9. Access to cellular data or Wi-Fi.

  10. Participant and caregiver speak American English as first language or are fluent inAmerican English.

Exclusion

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Positive pregnancy test at screening, baseline, or at any point in the study.

  2. Evidence of active or recent unstable serious mental illness, including, psychosis,mania, severe depression, or suicidality.

  3. Moved to present residential placement in last three months or less.

  4. Likely move in residential placement during the course of the study.

  5. Cardiac abnormalities including medically documented history of cardiac disease orcardiac arrhythmia, documented resting heart rate ≤ 50 beats per minute (BPM); orhistory of 2° type 2 or 3° heart block on electrocardiogram (ECG).

  6. Evidence of clinically significant abnormalities of blood, liver, or kidney functionfrom clinical safety laboratory assessments as determined by the Site Investigator.

  7. History of blood clot, pulmonary embolism, or deep vein thrombosis.

  8. Prior diagnosis of epilepsy or currently active seizures.

  9. Current enrollment in the active phase of different clinical trial or interventionalstudy.

  10. Current use of hearing aids or implantable medical devices including implanted vagusnerve stimulation (iVNS) device, implanted cardiac pacemaker, implanted cardiacdefibrillator, cochlear implants, cerebral shunt or cardiac implantable electricaldevices.

  11. Presence of dermal abnormalities at the stimulation site that would interfere withthe ability of the tVNS device to function properly.

  12. Presence of an allergy to titanium, titanium-iridium, thermoplastic elastomers,perfluoroethylene propylene, or polyurethane elastomers, or components of /preservatives present in the device electrode cream (Ceteareth-20, Propylene Glycol,Bentonite, Polysorbate 20, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin).

  13. Severe, untreated sleep apnea, as self-reported by subject or caregiver or suspectedby Site Investigator.

  14. Subject is, in the opinion of the Investigator, not suitable to participate in thestudy.

Study Design

Total Participants: 102
Treatment Group(s): 2
Primary Treatment: tVNS, intermittent stimulation
Phase: 3
Study Start date:
January 08, 2024
Estimated Completion Date:
April 01, 2027

Study Description

The main questions the VNS4PWS study seeks to answer are: (1) is tVNS treatment safe in people with PWS, (2) is tVNS treatment acceptable to people with PWS, and (3) is tVNS an effective treatment to reduce temper outbursts in people with PWS. Participants will wear the tVNS device daily for 4 hours over a period of 9 months. Two different doses of tVNS will be compared. During the final three months of the trial, the effect of stopping treatment will be studied. After the first year of the study, participants will have the opportunity to continue on to a 1-year open label extension period during which active tVNS treatment will be resumed.

Connect with a study center

  • Stanford University

    Palo Alto, California 94304
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Rady Children's Hospital San Diego

    San Diego, California 92123
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Stanford University

    Palo Alto 5380748, California 5332921 94304
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Rady Children's Hospital San Diego

    San Diego 5391811, California 5332921 92123
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Children's Hospital Colorado

    Aurora, Colorado 80045
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Children's Hospital Colorado

    Aurora 5412347, Colorado 5417618 80045
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Emory University

    Atlanta, Georgia 30322
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Rare Disease Research

    Atlanta, Georgia 30329
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Emory University

    Atlanta 4180439, Georgia 4197000 30322
    United States

    Active - Recruiting

  • Rare Disease Research

    Atlanta 4180439, Georgia 4197000 30329
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Iowa

    Iowa City, Iowa 52242
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Iowa

    Iowa City 4862034, Iowa 4862182 52242
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Johns Hopkins Hospital

    Baltimore, Maryland 21205
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Johns Hopkins Hospital

    Baltimore 4347778, Maryland 4361885 21205
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Minnesota

    Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Minnesota

    Minneapolis 5037649, Minnesota 5037779 55454
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Children's Mercy Kansas City

    Kansas City, Missouri 64108
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Children's Mercy Kansas City

    Kansas City 4393217, Missouri 4398678 64108
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine

    Bronx, New York 10461
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Maimonides Medical Center

    Brooklyn, New York 11219
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • NYU Langone Health

    Garden City, New York 11530
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine

    The Bronx, New York 10461
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Maimonides Medical Center

    Brooklyn 5110302, New York 5128638 11219
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • NYU Langone Health

    Garden City 5118226, New York 5128638 11530
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine

    The Bronx 5110266, New York 5128638 10461
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

    Cleveland, Ohio 44106
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Nationwide Children's Hospital

    Columbus, Ohio 43205
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center

    Cleveland 5150529, Ohio 5165418 44106
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Nationwide Children's Hospital

    Columbus 4509177, Ohio 5165418 43205
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center

    Nashville, Tennessee 37203
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center

    Nashville 4644585, Tennessee 4662168 37203
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Christus Children'S

    San Antonio, Texas 78207
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • Christus Children'S

    San Antonio 4726206, Texas 4736286 78207
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Utah

    Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Utah

    Salt Lake City 5780993, Utah 5549030 84108
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Virginia

    Charlottesville, Virginia 22908
    United States

    Site Not Available

  • University of Virginia

    Charlottesville 4752031, Virginia 6254928 22908
    United States

    Site Not Available

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