title: Add-on lamotrigine treatment in children and young adults with severe partial epilepsy: an open, prospective, long-term study.
abstract: We evaluated the efficacy and safety of lamotrigine in 41 children and young adults (age range, 3-25 years; mean, 12 years) with drug-resistant, partial epilepsies, based on a prospective, add-on study. Patients had severe symptomatic/cryptogenic partial epilepsies (mean seizure frequency = 3.6/day), resistant to one to four major antiepileptic drugs. Mean seizure frequency significantly decreased (P < .001) throughout the period of treatment. A good response (>50% seizure reduction) was observed in 15 patients of whom 6 were seizure-free (follow-up: 12-48 months). Higher responder rate was found among cryptogenic epilepsies and epilepsies symptomatic of cerebral malformation, whereas patients with posthypoxic-ischemic perinatal damage were poor responders. Lamotrigine discontinuation was mainly due to lack of efficacy (46% of patients), whereas only 2 patients developed a transient skin rash and did not drop out. Lamotrigine represents a valuable treatment for severe partial epilepsies of childhood that have proved resistant to previous antiepileptic drugs.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, IRCCS Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parmeggiani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perucca
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guerrini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D000077213:Lamotrigine; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014227:Triazines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014227:Triazines; D000077213:Lamotrigine