RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL OF HIGH-DOSE INTRAVENOUS PYRIDOXINE IN THE TREATMENT OF RECURRENT SEIZURES IN CHILDREN

To determine the efficacy of pyridoxine in treating seizures, 90 infan ts and children with recurrent convulsions primarily due to acute infe ctious diseases were enrolled iu the present study, Forty patients wer e treated with high-dose pyridoxine (30 or 50 mg/kg/day) by intravenou s infusion, and 50 subjects served as controls, Antiepileptic dregs an d other therapies were similar in the two groups except for pyridoxine , Clinical efficacy criteria were based on the frequency of convulsion s per day and on the duration of individual seizures after therapy was initiated, The results indicated that total response rates in the pyr idoxine group and control group were 92.5% and 64%, respectively (chi- square = 14.68, P <.001), After initiation of therapy, seizures resolv ed after 2.4 +/- 1.4 days in the pyridoxine group and after 3.7 +/- 2. 0 days in the control group (t = 3.67, P <.001), No adverse effects of pyridoxine were apparent during the observation period, We conclude t hat pyridoxine is an effective, safe, well-tolerated, and relatively i nexpensive adjunct to routine antiepileptic drugs for treatment of rec urrent seizures in children, (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc, All rig hts reserved.