The Use of Clobazam as Add-on Treatment in Resistant Epilepsy: Our Retrospective Clinical Data

Abstract

Objective: Patients with drug-resistant focal or generalized epilepsy are important in terms of treatment and polytherapy necessity, adverse effect profiles of drugs, and seizure control difficulties. Clobazam (CLB), which has a lesser sedative effect than other benzodiazepines, is frequently used in different countries. In this study, we aimed to present the results related to the demographic characteristics, adverse effects, and treatment efficacy of patients under CLB treatment.

Materials and Methods: Patients who were followed up in the outpatient clinic of Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty were screened retrospectively. Sex, age of seizure onset, duration of epilepsy, seizure type, duration of drug use, frequency of seizures before and after CLB, and drug adverse effects were investigated. The decrease in seizure frequency could not be quantitatively evaluated in some patients because the study was retrospective. For this reason, two groups were identified as having a significant reduction in seizure frequency and being seizure-free according to the information provided by the parents and the recorded data.

Results: Forty-one patients with CLB who were followed in the epilepsy clinic were examined. The mean age of 26 male and 15 female patients was 30.30 years. The mean duration of epilepsy was 20.4 years. It was determined that 16 patients were either seizure-free or had intervening rare, mild seizures. There was a significant decrease in seizure frequency in nine patients. Headache was observed in one patient, and sedation and dizziness in two patients.

Conclusion: CLB is especially recommended for add-on therapy in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. In this study, it was observed that in focal/generalized, idiopathic/ cryptogenic different groups, 39% of the patients were seizure-free. However, this effect was not lost during the mean follow-up period of 12.2 months. Although the value of this data decreases due to its retrospective nature, the place of CLB in the treatment of focal/generalized epilepsy is important.