Suppressive efficacy by a commercially available blue lens on PPR in 610 photosensitive epilepsy patients.
OBJECTIVE
Photosensitivity can represent a serious problem in epilepsy patients, also because pharmacologic treatment is often ineffective. Nonpharmacologic treatment using blue sunglasses is effective and safe in controlling photosensitivity, but large series of patients have never been studied.


METHODS
This multicenter study was conducted in 12 epilepsy centers in northern, central, southern, and insular Italy. A commercially available lens, named Z1, obtained in a previous trial, was used to test consecutively enrolled pediatric and adult epilepsy patients with photosensitivity. Only type 4 photosensitivity (photoparoxysmal response, PPR) was considered in the study. A standardized method was used for photostimulation.


RESULTS
Six hundred ten epilepsy patients were tested. Four hundred (66%) were female patients; 396 (65%) were younger than 14 years. Three hundred eighty-one (62%) subjects were pharmacologically treated at the time of investigation. Z1 lenses made PPR disappear in 463 (75.9%) patients, and PPR was considerably reduced in an additional 109 (17.9%) of them. PPR remained unchanged only in the remaining 38 (6.2%) patients. The response of PPR to Z1 lenses was not significantly influenced by the patients' age, sex, or type of epilepsy. No difference was found between pharmacologically treated and untreated patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The Z1 lens is highly effective in controlling PPR in a very large number of photosensitive epilepsy patients irrespective of their epilepsy or antiepileptic drug treatment. The lens might become a valid resource in the daily activity of any clinician who cares for patients with epilepsy.
Capovilla
Giuseppe
G
Epilepsy Center, Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, C. Poma Hospital, Mantova, Italy. pippo.capovilla@ospedalimantova.it
Gambardella
Antonio
A
Rubboli
Guido
G
Beccaria
Francesca
F
Montagnini
Alessandra
A
Aguglia
Umberto
U
Canevini
Maria Paola
MP
Casellato
Susanna
S
Granata
Tiziana
T
Paladin
Francesco
F
Romeo
Antonino
A
Stranci
Giuseppe
G
Tinuper
Paolo
P
Veggiotti
Pierangelo
P
Avanzini
Giuliano
G
Tassinari
Carlo Alberto
CA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020195:Epilepsy, Reflex / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005135:Eye Protective Devices / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014743:Videotape Recording
D000927:Anticonvulsants