WEDNESDAY, Aug. 21, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- The epilepsy drug vigabatrin causes eye problems in many people who take it.
That's the disturbing finding of a British study in tomorrow's issue of the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Researchers at the Walton Centre in Liverpool followed about 600 people who took vigabatrin between 1989 and 2001. Of those, they tested 98 for eyesight abnormalities, even though the people had no obvious symptoms of eye problems.
They found that 64 (65 percent) of those people had abnormal vision, while the other 34 (35 percent) had normal vision.
Stroke, brain damage, trauma and previous surgery were found to be responsible for the vision problems in 22 of the people with abnormal vision. However, in 42 people (43 percent), the researchers could find no other cause for the vision problems other than the use of vigabatrin, whose brand name is sabril.
Men were more likely than women to have vision problems caused by vigabatrin, the study found.
While vigabatrin is effective in treating epilepsy-related partial seizures and infantile spasms, it carries a high risk of visual field defects, the authors conclude. They say people need to be told about that before they're given the drug.
More Information
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more information on epilepsy.
