title: Efficacy of lacosamide as adjunctive therapy in children with refractory epilepsy.
abstract: Lacosamide is a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved antiepileptic drug for patients 17 years or older with partial epilepsy. There are sparse data on children. The objective of our study was to evaluate its efficacy/safety in children with refractory epilepsy. Forty children (mean age 14.3 years) were treated with lacosamide at our institution (adjunctive therapy in 36, monotherapy in 4). Fifteen patients had symptomatic focal epilepsy, 2 had cryptogenic focal epilepsy, 20 had symptomatic generalized epilepsy, and 3 had cryptogenic generalized epilepsy. Two had juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and 5 had Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Forty-two percent had at least >50% reduction in seizure frequency, and 6 became seizure free. Average dose was 7 mg/kg/d and average follow-up was 9.2 months. Responders had a 76.5% mean decrease in seizures. Fifteen children experienced an adverse reaction and 7 discontinued lacosamide (4: Ineffective, I: insurance denial, 1: tremor, 1: behavior). Lacosamide is effective and well-tolerated in children with refractory epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: 1Section of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Yorns
authors.forename: Divya S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Khurana
authors.forename: Karen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: H Huntley
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Hardison
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Legido
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Valencia
mesh_terms: D000081:Acetamides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D000078334:Lacosamide; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000081:Acetamides; D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000078334:Lacosamide
keywords: antiepileptic; epilepsy; lacosamide