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CHLOROQUINE TREATMENT IN REFRACTORY EPILEPSY: CLINICAL AND ELECTRO‐ENCEPHALOGRAPHIC RESULTS
Author(s) -
Wada Toyoji,
Yoshida Tomomichi
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.1962.tb01212.x
Subject(s) - epilepsy , anesthesia , chloroquine , electroencephalography , automatism (medicine) , phenytoin , medicine , psychomotor learning , generalized epilepsy , psychology , primidone , phenobarbital , pediatrics , pharmacology , psychiatry , cognition , malaria , immunology
Summary In 108 epileptic patients with 133 seizures in the total number, almost all being refractory, Chloroquine diphosphate andjor Chloroquine diortate was administered in addition to the routine anti‐epileptic drugs available at the present time and the following results were obtained:1) Effect was found nearly at 80% as a whole, including complete control above 40 % , though there were no severe side‐effects only in 6 cases: this may have significant meanings in clinical treatment of refractory epilepsies. 2) The clinical efficacy was in the order of absence< grand mal< myoclonic seizure< psychomotor automatism< psychomotor tonic‐arrest seizure< focal convulsive seizure, or in the order of petit mal epilepsy< convulsive epilepsy< psychomotor epilepsy> autonomic epilepsy. 3) Although relatively small dose of Chloroquine seemed to be sufficient, as 0.2 g for adults and 0.05 g for children, the effect usually became apparent within one week, accompanied by significant improvements in EEG‐findings, especially a strong tendency of the basic pattern toward normalization, in the later stage of the treatment. 4) Regarding the effectiveness in administration of Acetazolamide combined with Chloroquine and the above‐described EEG‐findings, the following may be considered as one of effective mechanisms that the change of the cerebral metabolic function goes toward normalization. On the other hand, Chloroquine has an enhanced effect toward the routine anti‐epileptic drugs, too.