Clinical Experience of Topiramate Use in Children with Refractory Epilepsy

SKY Liu, KY Chan, SF Ng

A retrospective review was done on 22 children who were put on Topiramate as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of refractory epilepsy from 1998 to 2001. The patients' response during the initial six months of therapy was evaluated. Treatment response was defined as>=50% reduction in seizure frequency from baseline while the patient was on maximum drug dose for at least 2 weeks. Five patients (23%) responded while they were on a mean maximum dose of 4.5±2.3 mg/kg/day. The response rate of patients with refractory complex partial seizures was higher (31%). Adverse effects including anorexia, somnolence, hyperactivity, and aggressiveness were observed in some patients, but many of them were transient and trivial. This study shows that Topiramate is probably an effective new adjunctive therapy for the treatment of refractory complex partial seizures in the local paediatric population, and it appears to be well tolerated. (HK J Paediatr (new series) 2004;9:126-132)

Key words : Children; Refractory epilepsy; Topiramate

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