Efficacy and safety of lamotrigine in refractory epilepsy of children

It is known that current antiepileptic drugs can not control seizures in 20-30% of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of lamotrigine as add-on therapy in intractable epileptic children in Yazd- Iran. In a drug study, 42 children with mean age of 5/35 ± 4 years, 23 boys and 19 girls with refractory seizures and seeking treatment, recruited to be subjects of this study. Mixed and myoclonic were the most common seizure types ( 38% and 31% respectively). At the end of three months of lamotrigine treatment concomitantly with previous AED, 31% became seizure free, 35.7% had more than 50% reduction in seizure frequency and 12% had increasing seizures. All of seizures in absence and juvenile myoclonic epilepsies stopped with lamotrigine. Good drug response (stopping of seizures or > 50% of reduction in seizure frequency) was seen in 100% of idiopathic, 67% of cryptogenic and 54% of symptomatic epilepsies. 75% of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and progressive myoclonic epilepsy and 33% of West syndrome had good response. Drug rash was seen in 6.7% of children and serious hematologic abnormality, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity side effects were not seen. Lamotrigine can be considered as an effective and safe drug in controlling of intractable epilepsy of children especially in absence and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.