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Vigabatrin as first add‐on treatment in carbamazepine‐resistant epilepsy patients
Author(s) -
Murri L.,
Ludice A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1995.tb00499.x
Subject(s) - vigabatrin , carbamazepine , epilepsy , medicine , diplopia , refractory (planetary science) , adverse effect , anticonvulsant , partial seizures , anesthesia , pediatrics , surgery , psychiatry , physics , astrobiology
Numerous clinical reports and several controlled clinical trials have confirmed that vigabatrin is both effective and well‐tolerated as an add‐on treatment for patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy. This report presents the results of a study of 40 patients (22 women and 18 men), aged I960 years (mean 37 years), with partial seizures (with or without secondary generalization) and receiving carbamazepine, 600‐1800 mg/day. Vigabatrin was given as first add‐on drug at a dose of 2‐3 g/day for an average of 6 months, in order to assess the clinical response before considering other anti‐epilepsy drugs. There was a significant decrease in seizure frequency, from a median of 13 seizures/month at baseline, to 3 seizures/month during the last month on vigabatrin (p<0.01). Seven patients became seizure‐free (17.5%). The most common adverse events experienced during the study were drowsiness, diplopia/blurred vision, and were already present before vigabatrin treatment. In conclusion, vigabatrin is effective as a first add‐on therapy for partial epilepsy, refractory to carbamazepine monotherapy, and appears to be a worthy clinical alternative to other drug combinations.