All issues > Volume 53(4); 2010

Original Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2010;53(4):565-570. Published online April 15, 2010.

Clinical efficacy and safety of lamotrigine monotherapy in newly diagnosed pediatric patients with epilepsy

Ji Hye JH Han¹, Jung Eun JE Oh¹, Sun Jun SJ Kim¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Correspondence Sun Jun SJ Kim ,Email: sunjun@chonbuk.ac.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: To verify the efficacy and safety of lamotrigine (LTG) monotherapy in newly diagnosed children with epilepsy.
Methods
: We prospectively enrolled 148 children who had undergone LTG monotherapy at our institution between September 2002 and June 2009. Twenty-nine patients were excluded: 19 due to incomplete data and 10 were lost to follow up. The data of the remaining 119 patients was analyzed.
Results
: We enrolled 119 pediatric epilepsy patients (aged 2.8-19.3 years; 66 males and 53 females) in this study. Out of 119 patients, 29 (25.2%) had generalized epilepsy and 90 (74.8%) had partial epilepsy. The responses of seizure reduction were as follows: Seizure freedom (no seizure attack for at least 6 months) in 87/111 (78.4%, n=111) patients; partial response (reduced seizure frequency compared to baseline) in 13 (11.7%) patients; and persistent seizure in 11 (9.9%) patients. The seizure freedom rate was in 81.6% in patients with partial seizure (75.9% for complex partial seizure and 90.9% for benign rolandic epilepsy) and 44.8% in patients with generalized epilepsy (30.0% for absence seizure, 35.7% for juvenile myoclonic epilepsy patients, and 100.0% for idiopathic generalized epilepsy patients). Adverse reactions were reported in 17 (14.3%) patients, and 8 patients (6.7%) discontinued LTG because of rash and tic. No patient experienced severe adverse reaction such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
Conclusion
: LTG showed excellent therapeutic response and had few significant adverse effects. Our findings report may contribute in promoting the use of LTG monotherapy in epileptic children.

Keywords :Lamotrigine, Efficacy, Safety, Epilepsy, Child