Daytime sleepiness in epilepsy patients receiving topiramate monotherapy.
OBJECTIVE
Limited research has focused to date on objective neurophysiological evaluation of daytime sleepiness in patients treated with newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), especially when used as monotherapy. This study was aimed at assessing occurrence of daytime sleepiness in newly diagnosed, drug-naïve patients with partial epilepsy receiving initial topiramate (TPM) monotherapy.


METHODS
Daytime vigilance was assessed in 14 consecutive, newly diagnosed and never medicated adult patients with focal epilepsy, receiving monotherapy with TPM. At baseline and 2 months after slowly titrated therapy with TPM, 200 mg/day, patients underwent the Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), visual simple and choice reaction times (VRT), and self-rated their own degree of sleepiness with the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. A group of 14 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers served as controls.


RESULTS
At baseline, mean daytime sleep latencies on the MSLT were comparable in patients and in controls. Two months after TPM monotherapy, MSLT scores did not significantly change in patients as compared with pretreatment values. Accordingly, subjective daytime sleepiness and VRTs, which were comparable in controls and in untreated patients at baseline, did not change in patients after TPM monotherapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Study results suggest that an initial short-course monotherapy with TPM, 200 mg/day, does not impair daytime vigilance in newly diagnosed adult patients with partial seizures.
Bonanni
Enrica
E
Department of Neurosciences, Section of Neurology, University of Pisa, Italy. e.bonanni@med.unipi.it
Galli
Renato
R
Maestri
Michelangelo
M
Pizzanelli
Chiara
C
Fabbrini
Monica
M
Manca
Maria Laura
ML
Iudice
Alfonso
A
Murri
Luigi
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001143:Arousal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000187:drug effects*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005632:Fructose / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D000077236:Topiramate
D000077236:Topiramate; D005632:Fructose