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Lamotrigine treatment for post-stroke pathological laughing and crying
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Foothills Medical Centre, Room AW258A, 1403-29th Street NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 2T9. rramasub@ucalgary.ca
Clinical Neuropharmacology
|October 2, 2003
Summary
Lamotrigine effectively treated pathologic laughing and crying (PLC) in a stroke patient. This antiepileptic drug showed rapid improvement in both laughing and crying symptoms, with a notable effect on laughing.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Pathologic laughing and crying (PLC) is a common, disabling condition following stroke.
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are standard treatments for pathologic crying (PC), but options for diverse PLC manifestations remain limited.
Observation:
- A 60-year-old woman experienced PLC after an ischemic stroke impacting the left frontal and temporal lobes.
- The patient was treated with lamotrigine, an antiepileptic drug with mood-stabilizing properties, with doses gradually increased over four weeks.
Findings:
- Lamotrigine treatment resulted in significant and rapid improvement in both the laughing and crying components of PLC.
- Pathologic laughing symptoms demonstrated a more pronounced response to lamotrigine compared to pathologic crying.
Implications:
- Lamotrigine presents a potential therapeutic option for managing post-stroke PLC.
- Further controlled studies are necessary to confirm lamotrigine's efficacy and understand its differential effects on PLC components.