Efficacy of Pregabalin in Childhood Refractory Partial Seizure

authors:

avatar Alireza Tavasoli 1 , * , avatar Gholamreza Zamani 2 , avatar Ameneh Zare-Shahabadi 3 , avatar Nima Rezaei 4 , avatar Alireza Ahmadvand 5

Iranian Journal of Pediatrics: Vol.24, issue 1; 100-104
published online: January 26, 2014
article type: Research Article
received: April 09, 2013
accepted: December 08, 2013

how to cite: Tavasoli A, Zamani G, Zare-Shahabadi A , Rezaei N, Ahmadvand A . Efficacy of Pregabalin in Childhood Refractory Partial Seizure. Iran J Pediatr. 2014;24(1): 100-104. 

Abstract

Objective: About one third of partial seizures are refractory to treatment. Several anticonvulsant drugs have entered the market in recent decades but concerns about intolerance, drug interactions, and the safety of the drug are notable. One of these new anticonvulsants is pregabalin, a safe drug with almost no interaction with other antiepileptic drugs.  Methods: In this open label clinical trial study, pregabalin was used for evaluation of its efficacy on reducing seizure frequency in 29 children suffering from refractory partial seizures. Average daily and weekly seizure frequency of the patients was recorded during a 6-week period (baseline period). Then, during a period of 2 weeks (titration period), pregabalin was started with a dose of 25-75 mg/d, using method of flexible dose, and was brought to maximum dose of drug that was intended in this study (450 mg/d) based on clinical response of the patients and seizure frequency. Then the patients were given the drug for 12 weeks and the average frequency of daily and weekly seizures were recorded again (treatment period). Findings: Reduction in seizure frequency in this study was 36% and the responder rate or number of patients who gained more than 50% reduction in seizure frequency was 51.7%. Conclusion: This study showed that pregabalin can be used with safety and an acceptable efficacy in treatment of childhood refractory partial seizures.
 

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