Long-term study with gabapentin in patients with drug-resistant epileptic seizures
J. Sivenius, A. Ylinen, R. Kalviainen and Sr. Riekkinen PJ
Department of Neurology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy and safety of gabapentin in long-term
treatment. DESIGN: A 4-year follow-up study of 25 patients with visits at
3-month intervals. SETTING: The patients were followed up in the outpatient
unit of the University Hospital of Kuopio (Finland). PATIENTS: We treated
25 patients with drug-resistant complex partial seizures and secondarily
generalized seizures in an open-label long-term study, using gabapentin as
an additional means of therapy after a 3-month double-blind,
placebo-controlled phase. Thirteen patients showed no benefit from
gabapentin; the study medication was discontinued after 4 to 6 months of
treatment. Of the 12 patients who responded enough to continue treatment,
five were withdrawn due to different reasons, one because of loss of
response. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The number of patients receiving the study
drug in the follow-up and reduction of seizure frequency from baseline
level as analyzed by the Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: Seven patients received
gabapentin therapy for more than 4 years. The median follow-up time was 54
months. There was a significant reduction in seizure frequency throughout
the follow-up period. Five of seven patients had a greater than 50% seizure
frequency reduction at 4 years, representing 20% of the 25 patients who
entered the study. CONCLUSIONS: Gabapentin possesses good efficacy in
long-term treatment of patients with partial and secondarily generalized
epileptic seizures. It is safe to use, and it is fairly well tolerated even
in long-term treatment.
