Long-term treatment with vigabatrin - 10 years of clinical experience

This report describes the long-term follow-up of 56 patients with refractor y partial epilepsy who, within 3 months of vigabatrin add-on therapy (3 g/d ay), showed a reduction in monthly seizure frequency of more than 50%. The short-term (6 months) and long-term (5 years) effects of vigabatrin on seiz ure frequency in this patient cohort have been published separately. The re duction in seizure frequency appeared to be long-lasting in the patients fo llowed-up (n = 36) and, importantly, a significant number of the patients ( n = 7) became seizure-free, especially during long-term treatment. Thus, th e efficacy of vigabatrin appears to be progressive, at least in patients wh o show an early response to treatment. These results are consistent with ex perimental findings that suggest that vigabatrin may have anti-epileptogeni c and neuroprotective effects.