WEDNESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- When given as an adjunct to other anti-epileptic drugs, once-daily extended-release lamotrigine reduces partial seizure frequency in patients with epilepsy, researchers report in the Oct. 16 issue of Neurology.
Dean K. Naritoku, M.D., from Southern Illinois University in Springfield, Ill., and colleagues randomized 239 patients with epilepsy (at least 12 years old) who were taking one or two anti-epileptic drugs to either once-daily placebo or lamotrigine extended-release. Patients underwent a seven-week escalation phase and a 12-week maintenance phase.
The researchers found a significant median percent reduction in weekly seizure frequency in the patients receiving lamotrigine, both over the entire 19-week treatment phase (46.1 versus 24.2 percent) and in the escalation and maintenance phases. Similar results were obtained for secondarily generalized seizures. Adverse events were headache and dizziness, with dizziness more common in lamotrigine patients. There were no significant adverse effects on health in either group.
"Once-daily adjunctive lamotrigine extended-release compared with placebo effectively reduced partial seizure frequency and was well tolerated in this double-blind study," Naritoku and colleagues conclude.
The study was sponsored and conducted by GlaxoSmithKline Research and Development.
Abstract
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