title: Long-term follow-up of topiramate and lamotrigine: a perspective on quality of life.
abstract: We conducted a prospective, long-term audit of lamotrigine and topiramate as add-on treatment for refractory epilepsy. A total of 55 patients participated in the study. Five years after starting the drug 7/20 patients remained on lamotrigine and 13/35 on topiramate. The patients still on the study drugs showed an improvement in seizure frequency, with 5/7 patients being seizure free on lamotrigine and 4/13 on topiramate. Furthermore, we assessed quality of life using the quality of life assessment schedule and found a significant improvement for the patients still on the study drugs. These data suggest that about one third of the patients on lamotrigine or topiramate as add-on therapy stay on the drug in the long term. These patients are likely to benefit with respect to objective and subjective outcome measures.
authors.affiliation: Raymond Way Neuropsychiatry Research Unit, Institute of Neurology, London.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Caroline E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Selai
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Trimble
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005632:Fructose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D000077213:Lamotrigine; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013995:Time; D000077236:Topiramate; D014227:Triazines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D014227:Triazines; D000077236:Topiramate; D005632:Fructose; D000077213:Lamotrigine