title: A Clinical-EEG Study of Sleepiness and Psychological Symptoms in Pharmacoresistant Epilepsy Patients Treated with Lacosamide.
abstract: Our aim was to evaluate the EEG and clinical modifications induced by the new antiepileptic drug lacosamide (LCM) in patients with epilepsy. We evaluated 10 patients affected by focal pharmacoresistant epilepsy in which LCM (mean 250 mg/day) was added to the preexisting antiepileptic therapy, which was left unmodified. Morning waking EEG recording was performed before (t0) and at 6 months (t1) after starting LCM. At t0 and t1, patients were also administered questionnaires evaluating mood, anxiety, sleep, sleepiness, and fatigue (Beck Depression Inventory; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Y1 and Y2; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Epworth Sleepiness Scale; Fatigue Severity Scale). We performed a quantitative analysis of EEG interictal abnormalities and background EEG power spectrum analysis. LCM as an add-on did not significantly affect anxiety, depression, sleepiness, sleep quality, and fatigue scales. Similarly, adding LCM to preexisting therapy did not modify significantly patient EEGs in terms of absolute power, relative power, mean frequency, and interictal abnormalities occurrence. In conclusion, in this small cohort of patients, we confirmed that LCM as an add-on does not affect subjective parameters which play a role, among others, in therapy tolerability, and our clinical impression was further supported by evaluation of EEG spectral analysis.
authors.affiliation: Neurology Unit and Epilepsy Center, Department of Neuroscience, A.O.U.P and Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of the University of Pisa, Via Roma 67, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Filippo S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Giorgi
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pizzanelli
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pelliccia
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Coscio
authors.forename: Michelangelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maestri
authors.forename: Melania
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guida
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Iacopini
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iudice
authors.forename: Enrica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bonanni