VIGABATRIN IN CHILDHOOD EPILEPSY - A 5-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

In an retrospective uncontrolled long-term study in 30 children with i ntractable epilepsy it was found that treatment with vigabatrin result ed in a seizure reduction of more than 50% at 1-year follow-up in 40% of the children. The responders were all children with partial seizure s. Side effects were mild and did not lead to discontinuation of the d rug. Increased numbers of seizures were seen in three cases. A moderat e weight increase was seen in 27% of the children. At 5-year follow-up 7 children (23%) still maintained a seizure reduction of more than 50 %. Trials of monotherapy in three seizure-free patients were unsuccess ful. No further side effects were observed. A study of evoked potentia ls in 12 children showed no alteration in latency and amplitudes of VE P following treatment with vigabatrin. Our results show that in childr en vigabatrin seems to have a stable effect even though a few children may experience a breakthrough of seizures. The presented results toge ther with previous reports on MRI-scans seem to indicate that even in children with a still maturing CNS vigabatrin is a safe drug.