Long-term study with gabapentin in patients with drug-resistant epileptic seizures

To study the efficacy and safety of gabapentin in long-term treatment.

A 4-year follow-up study of 25 patients with visits at 3-month intervals.

The patients were followed up in the outpatient unit of the University Hospital of Kuopio (Finland).

We treated 25 patients with drug-resistant complex partial seizures and secondarily generalized seizures in an open-label long-term study, using gabapentin as an additional means of therapy after a 3-month double-blind, placebo-controlled phase. Thirteen patients showed no benefit from gabapentin; the study medication was discontinued after 4 to 6 months of treatment. Of the 12 patients who responded enough to continue treatment, five were withdrawn due to different reasons, one because of loss of response.

The number of patients receiving the study drug in the follow-up and reduction of seizure frequency from baseline level as analyzed by the Wilcoxon test.

Seven patients received gabapentin therapy for more than 4 years. The median follow-up time was 54 months. There was a significant reduction in seizure frequency throughout the follow-up period. Five of seven patients had a greater than 50% seizure frequency reduction at 4 years, representing 20% of the 25 patients who entered the study.

Gabapentin possesses good efficacy in long-term treatment of patients with partial and secondarily generalized epileptic seizures. It is safe to use, and it is fairly well tolerated even in long-term treatment.