Elsevier

Seizure

Volume 11, Issue 6, September 2002, Pages 356-360
Seizure

Regular Article
Long-term follow-up of topiramate and lamotrigine: a perspective on quality of life

https://doi.org/10.1053/seiz.2002.0681Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Abstract

We conducted a prospective, long-term audit of lamotrigine and topiramate as add-on treatment for refractory epilepsy. A total of 55 patients participated in the study. Five years after starting the drug 7/20 patients remained on lamotrigine and 13/35 on topiramate. The patients still on the study drugs showed an improvement in seizure frequency, with 5/7 patients being seizure free on lamotrigine and 4/13 on topiramate. Furthermore, we assessed quality of life using the quality of life assessment schedule and found a significant improvement for the patients still on the study drugs. These data suggest that about one third of the patients on lamotrigine or topiramate as add-on therapy stay on the drug in the long term. These patients are likely to benefit with respect to objective and subjective outcome measures.

Keywords

quality of life
QOLAS
topiramate
lamotrigine
audit
outcome.

Cited by (0)

1

Correspondence to: Dr Caroline E. Selai, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, [email protected]