LONG-TERM EXPERIENCE WITH TOPIRAMATE AS ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY AND AS MONOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH PARTIAL ONSET SEIZURES - RETROSPECTIVE SURVEY OF OPEN-LABEL TREATMENT
We. Rosenfeld et al., LONG-TERM EXPERIENCE WITH TOPIRAMATE AS ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY AND AS MONOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH PARTIAL ONSET SEIZURES - RETROSPECTIVE SURVEY OF OPEN-LABEL TREATMENT, Epilepsia, 38, 1997, pp. 34-36
Because initial studies of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are add-on t
rials in refractory patient populations, their effectiveness as monoth
erapy is usually not apparent until relatively later in their developm
ent programs. The novel AED topiramate (TPM) has been found efficaciou
s as adjunctive therapy in controlled, randomized trials in adults wit
h partial onset seizures. We report a retrospective analysis of TPM as
AED monotherapy in 214 patients from five centers who received TPM in
investigational trials. Of this total, 136 (64%) were still receiving
TPM at the time of the analysis, with a mean treatment duration of 2.
5 years. One-third of the patients have been successfully converted to
TPM monotherapy, and 62% of those converted have been seizure-free fo
r at least 3 months. The results of this analysis suggest that TPM may
prove to be a valuable new AED for both monotherapy and add-on therap
y in partial onset epilepsy.