title: Clobazam for the treatment of intractable epilepsy in children.
abstract: We describe our experience using clobazam, examining efficacy for individual seizure types and analyzing for factors contributing to initial and sustained response. We retrospectively reviewed medical charts of children treated with clobazam. We collected patient and treatment characteristics and compared response to therapy at 6, 12, and >12 months' duration. One hundred eight patients with a variety of seizure types and etiologies of epilepsy were treated. Response rates for >50% seizure reduction were 59%, 39%, and 30% of patients at 6, 12, and >12 months' therapy, respectively. No seizure type responded more favorably and there were no patient predictors of favorable response. Patients tended to respond early and at low dosing, and half the patients maintained this response for 15 months or more. Clobazam has efficacy against a wide spectrum of seizure types and epilepsy etiologies. An early, low-dose response is a favorable indicator for sustained response.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA. Scott.perry@cookchildrens.org
authors.forename: M Scott
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Saleem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Courtney
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gilson
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kotecha
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernandez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D000078306:Clobazam; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D000078306:Clobazam