• Vicente Villanueva, Elena López-Gomáriz, Javier López-Trigo, Juan Palau, Manuel García, Teresa Villarroya, Macarena Bonet, and Consuelo Santafé.
• Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe Valencia, Valencia, Spain. villanueva_vichab@gva.es
• Epilepsy Behav. 2012 Mar 1; 23 (3): 298-304.

AbstractThere has been little long-term success with polytherapy for patients with refractory partial-onset epilepsy. The rational combination of antiepileptic drugs based on their mechanism of action may help improve treatment efficacy and tolerability. Lacosamide, a novel sodium channel blocker (SCB), was investigated in 158 patients with partial-onset epilepsy in the prospective, multicenter, observational, RELACOVA cohort study conducted in Spain. After 12 months' treatment with lacosamide, 47% of patients were responders (≥50% reduction in seizure frequency) and 24% were seizure free. Lacosamide was well tolerated; dizziness was the most frequent adverse event. Efficacy was better (responder rate, 65% vs 38%; seizure free rate, 35% vs 17%) and there was a lower adverse event rate (33% vs 58%) in patients receiving non-SCBs (n=49) versus those receiving SCBs (n=104) as concomitant therapy at baseline. Further investigation of lacosamide combination therapy is warranted.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

29 keywords...

hide…