Long-term treatment with vigabatrin - 10 years of clinical experience.
This report describes the long-term follow-up of 56 patients with refractory partial epilepsy who, within 3 months of vigabatrin add-on therapy (3 g/day), showed a reduction in monthly seizure frequency of more than 50%. The short-term (6 months) and long-term (5 years) effects of vigabatrin on seizure frequency in this patient cohort have been published separately. The reduction in seizure frequency appeared to be long-lasting in the patients followed-up (n = 36) and, importantly, a significant number of the patients (n = 7) became seizure-free, especially during long-term treatment. Thus, the efficacy of vigabatrin appears to be progressive, at least in patients who show an early response to treatment. These results are consistent with experimental findings that suggest that vigabatrin may have anti-epileptogenic and neuroprotective effects.
Ylinen
A
A
Department of Neurology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
Salmenperä
T
T
Mumford
J P
JP
Riekkinen
P J
PJ
D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D020888:Vigabatrin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D020888:Vigabatrin