Lamotrigine as add-on therapy in drug-resistant generalized epilepsies: Efficacy and tolerability

The aim of this study was to evaluate lamotrigine (LTG) efficacy and tolerability in drug-resistant patients affected by generalized epilepsy (GE). Sixty-one patients with drug-resistant GE received LTG as add-on treatment for a period of at least 6 months. Forty-five were affected by idiopathic GE, 4 by cryptogenic GE, 12 by symptomatic GE. Forty-eight patients in the whole group (78.7%) showed a seizure reduction > 50%, with 23 seizure-free patients (37.7%). Patients with symptomatic GE showed the lowest percentage of seizure-free patients. Within the group of patients with idiopathic GE, the highest percentage of seizure-free patients was observed in subjects with grand mal on awakening/random and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, and the lowest in patients with childhood absence epilepsy and juvenile absence epilepsy. Side effects, observed in one-third of patients, were usually rnild, transient and well tolerated, and only in a few cases led to discontinuation of LTG.