Lamotrigine in two cases of Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RS) is a particular neurodevelopmental disorder in which sym ptoms develop in early infancy and manifests particular symptoms at certain ages. Two girls aged 4.5 and 2.5-years-old were admitted with complaints o f seizures, regression of language, psychomotor development, and autistic b ehavior. They had fulfilled the criteria of classic RS. Lamotrigine was use d in the treatment of the convulsions. After lamotrigine therapy, the convu lsions were successfully controlled and the stereotyped hand movements and autistic behaviors markedly decreased. We would like to stress that, aside from convulsion, abnormal signs of the syndrome such as stereotyped hand mo vements and autistic behaviors might also be improved with lamotrigine, but detailed and controlled studies should be performed to identify whether la motrigine has any positive effects in RS. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.