Long-term safety and efficacy of lamotrigine (Lamictal) in paediatric patients with epilepsy.

ABSTRACT

This study was initiated to evaluate the long-term safety, tolerability and effect on seizure control of lamotrigine (Lamictal) in paediatric patients with epilepsy. A total of 155 children (aged 2-19 years) with treatment-resistant epilepsy received add-on therapy or monotherapy lamotrigine for up to four years. Patients had already experienced benefit from lamotrigine treatment in an open one-year study before entering this open continuation study of up to three additional years of treatment. Overall, including both these studies, patients were treated with lamotrigine for 53-221 weeks, representing 417.9 patient-years of experience. The physician's global assessment of seizure control compared to the three-month period before lamotrigine treatment, indicated that seizure control was generally maintained during long-term lamotrigine treatment for up to four years. For 19 patients, the investigator recorded a subjective improvement in behaviour, alertness, seizure severity, quality of life and mobility with lamotrigine treatment, sometimes independent of seizure control. In total, 34 patients received lamotrigine monotherapy; 22 of these were maintained on lamotrigine monotherapy for at least one year. Lamotrigine was well tolerated. The majority of adverse experiences were classified by the physician as being mild in intensity and only six patients (4%) withdrew from the study due to adverse experiences.