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Previous Volume 337:1807-1812 December 18, 1997 Number 25 Next

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ABSTRACT

Background The Lennox–Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that usually begins in early childhood, is difficult to treat. Dose-related drug toxicity is common.

Methods We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the antiepileptic drug lamotrigine in patients with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome. Eligible patients had more than one type of predominantly generalized seizure, including tonic–clonic, atonic, tonic, and major myoclonic, and had seizures on average at least every other day. After a 4-week base-line period in which all participants received placebo, we randomly assigned 169 patients (age range, 3 to 25 years) to 16 weeks of lamotrigine (n = 79) or placebo (n = 90) in addition to their other antiepileptic drugs.

Results The median frequency of all major seizures changed from base-line levels of 16.4 and 13.5 per week in the lamotrigine and placebo groups, respectively, to 9.9 and 14.2 per week after 16 weeks of treatment (P = 0.002). Thirty-three percent of the patients in the lamotrigine group and 16 percent of those in the placebo group had a reduction of at least 50 percent in the frequency of seizures (P = 0.01). There were no significant differences between groups in the incidence of adverse events, except for colds or viral illnesses, which were more common in the lamotrigine group (P = 0.05).

Conclusions Lamotrigine was an effective and well-tolerated treatment for seizures associated with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.

Lamotrigine is a chemically novel antiepileptic drug of the phenyltriazine class. Lamotrigine's linear pharmacokinetics, low degree of protein binding, oral bioavailability, and activity in numerous animal models of seizures led to its development as a treatment for epilepsy.^9,10 In vitro pharmacologic studies suggest that lamotrigine acts by stabilizing voltage-sensitive sodium channels, thus preventing the release of aspartate and glutamate.¹¹ Lamotrigine has a broad spectrum of activity and is effective in both partial and generalized seizures when used alone or with other antiepileptic drugs.^{12,13,14,15,16,17} It can also be given as adjunctive therapy for treatment-resistant epilepsy¹⁸ and for intractable seizures^19,20 in children. The results of open-label studies^21,22 suggest that lamotrigine may be effective in the treatment of seizures associated with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate lamotrigine in patients with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.

Methods

Patients

The diagnostic criteria for the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome in this study were agreed on by an international expert panel of child neurologists. Patients 3 to 25 years of age were eligible if they had had more than one type of predominantly generalized seizure, including tonic–clonic seizures and drop attacks (atonic, tonic, or major myoclonic), for at least one year; they were younger than 11 years at the onset of epilepsy; they had seizures at least every other day or with a similar average frequency; and they had intellectual impairment or a clinical impression of intellectual deterioration (on the basis of results of developmental assessments or IQ tests) and a recent electroencephalogram demonstrating an abnormal background and a pattern of slow spike-and-wave complexes (<2.5 Hz). If focal abnormalities occurred during electroencephalography, they occurred concurrently with a slow spike-and-wave pattern and were not considered by the investigator to be the most important electroencephalographic abnormality. Patients were ineligible if they had a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, they were receiving more than three antiepileptic drugs, or they weighed less than 15 kg and were taking valproate. The patients' parents or guardians provided written, informed consent. The protocol was approved by an institutional review board or ethics committee at each of the 43 study sites.

Procedures

The study was conducted between February 1994 and November 1995. Lamotrigine (Lamictal, Glaxo Wellcome, Research Triangle Park, N.C.) or placebo was added to patients' standard antiepileptic-drug regimens. During screening, physical and neurologic examinations (including electroencephalography if recent electroencephalographic data were not available) were performed, and blood samples were obtained for standard hematologic and biochemical tests and for the measurement of plasma antiepileptic-drug concentrations. During a four-week single-blind base-line period (the physician investigators were not blinded), all patients received placebo. Their eligibility for the study was confirmed, and their standard antiepileptic-drug regimens were continued. Eligible patients were then randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to receive either lamotrigine or placebo. The randomization was not stratified according to site or country. Because of the ability of valproate to inhibit the clearance of lamotrigine and increase plasma lamotrigine concentrations,^23,24 patients were assigned to one of four dosing regimens according to concomitant valproate use and body weight (<25 kg or >25 kg) (Table 1). The 16-week treatment period comprised a 6-week period in which the dose of active drug or placebo was increased, 2 weeks in which the dose was fixed, and an additional 8 weeks during which the fixed dose could be increased during week 8 or 12 to no more than the maximal allowable daily dose if seizures were still occurring (100 to 200 mg for patients concomitantly receiving valproate and 300 to 400 mg for patients who were not receiving valproate) (Table 1). At the end of the treatment period, the study drug was gradually discontinued in a double-blind manner by reducing the dose to 50 percent for two weeks and then to 25 percent for a further two weeks. The study drug was also discontinued gradually in patients who stopped treatment prematurely.

View this table: [in this window] [in a new window]   Table 1. Lamotrigine Dosing Schedule.

 
Efficacy and Safety Assessments

The patients' parents or guardians recorded the number of tablets of antiepileptic medication that the patients used as well as the number of all major motor seizures (drop attacks and tonic–clonic seizures) in daily diaries throughout the base-line and treatment periods. Clinically diagnosed atonic, tonic, and myoclonic seizures that resulted in falls were considered drop attacks for the purposes of data collection and analysis. The number of atypical absence seizures was counted for one hour before or during clinic visits at screening and during treatment weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 at the same time of day. All seizures were classified according to the criteria of the International League against Epilepsy.⁶

Clinicians obtained information on the occurrence of adverse events (defined as any undesirable effects, irrespective of the relation to the administration of the study drug) from the patients' parents or guardians during clinic visits during treatment weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. Physical and neurologic examinations were conducted, and blood samples obtained for standard hematologic and biochemical tests (including therapeutic monitoring of concomitantly administered antiepileptic drugs) during treatment weeks 4 and 16.

Statistical Analysis

All safety analyses were based on the 169 patients who received at least one dose of study drug and had analyzable data. Data on one patient in each group were excluded from the efficacy analyses because of the lack of completeness.

The primary efficacy measure was the percent change from base line in the frequency of major motor seizures during treatment weeks 1 to 16. In addition, the median changes from base line in the frequency of drop attacks, tonic–clonic seizures, and atypical absence seizures were examined. The extended Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel chi-square test,²⁵ adjusted for country effects, was used to compare the changes between the lamotrigine and placebo groups.

The percentages of patients with a reduction of 50 percent or more in the frequency of all major seizures, drop attacks, and tonic–clonic seizures were compared between groups with Fisher's exact test. In an "as-treated" analysis of changes in the frequency of seizures, data on patients who stopped treatment early included only data obtained before treatment was discontinued.

Safety evaluations included descriptive analyses of the frequency with which patients reported specific adverse events, with 95 percent confidence intervals for between-group differences in treatment, vital signs, and the results of clinical laboratory tests and neurologic examinations. In addition, the plasma concentrations of all antiepileptic drugs were measured. All statistical tests were two-sided.

Results

Demographic Characteristics

Of the 179 patients who entered the 4-week placebo base-line period, 10 were not enrolled in the subsequent 16-week treatment phase; most patients were ruled ineligible because of a lack of compliance with the study procedures or failure to meet the enrollment criteria. Thus, 169 patients underwent randomization; 79 were assigned to receive lamotrigine, and 90 to receive placebo (Table 2). The characteristics of the two groups were similar, although the lamotrigine group had a higher proportion of male subjects (P = 0.02). Approximately 40 percent of the patients in each group had a history of infantile spasms, and approximately 25 percent of each group had a history of status epilepticus. Seven patients in the lamotrigine group stopped treatment early, four because of protocol violations and three because of adverse events. Fourteen patients in the placebo group did not complete the study: seven had adverse events, three had protocol violations, two had a deterioration in the control of seizures, one failed to return for follow-up, and the parents of one patient withdrew their consent.

View this table: [in this window] [in a new window]   Table 2. Base-Line Characteristics of the Patients.

 
Frequency of Seizures

For all major seizures, the median frequency changed from base-line levels of 16.4 and 13.5 per week to 9.9 and 14.2 per week in the lamotrigine and placebo groups, respectively (Table 3). The median reduction from base line was 32 percent in the lamotrigine group, as compared with a decrease of 9 percent in the placebo group (P = 0.002). The results were similar when drop attacks and tonic–clonic seizures were examined separately (Table 3). Lamotrigine-associated changes in the frequency of seizures were not affected by concomitant treatment with valproate or a history of infantile spasms (Table 3). The change from base line in the frequency of atypical absence seizures was not significantly different between groups (P = 0.96).

View this table: [in this window] [in a new window]   Table 3. Frequency of Seizures during the 16-Week Treatment Period.

 
Thirty-three percent of lamotrigine-treated patients and 16 percent of placebo-treated patients had a reduction of at least 50 percent in the frequency of all types of major seizures (P = 0.01) (Figure 1). Significantly more lamotrigine-treated patients than placebo-treated patients had a reduction of at least 50 percent in the frequency of drop attacks and tonic–clonic seizures (P = 0.04 and P = 0.007, respectively). More patients in the placebo group than in the lamotrigine group had either no change or an increase in the frequency of all types of major seizures, drop attacks, and tonic–clonic seizures.

View larger version (9K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Figure 1. Median Change from Base Line in the Frequency of All Types of Major Seizures, Drop Attacks, and Tonic–Clonic Seizures during the 16-Week Treatment Period. The values above the bars are the percentages of patients. Because of rounding, not all percentages total 100.

 
Adverse Events

Adverse events reported by four or more patients in either group are listed in Table 4. There were no significant differences between groups in the incidence of adverse events except for colds or viral illnesses, which were more common in the lamotrigine group (P = 0.05). Ten patients (three in the lamotrigine group and seven in the placebo group) withdrew from the study because of adverse events. The adverse event most frequently responsible for withdrawal was clinical deterioration of seizure control (one patient in the lamotrigine group and six in the placebo group).

View this table: [in this window] [in a new window]   Table 4. The Most Frequently Reported Adverse Events.

 
Rash was reported by seven patients in the lamotrigine group (9 percent) and six in the placebo group (7 percent) and led to the withdrawal of two lamotrigine-treated patients and one placebo-treated patient, all of whom were also receiving valproate. One of the two lamotrigine-treated patients was hospitalized; the other was given a diagnosis of Stevens–Johnson syndrome. In both these patients the rash occurred during the fifth week of treatment and resolved without sequelae. Although in both cases the total daily dose of lamotrigine did not exceed the recommended dose of 2 mg per kilogram, both patients had received higher starting and escalation doses during treatment weeks 1 through 4 because they weighed just over 25 kg (25.1 kg and 26.5 kg) and so had been assigned to the dosing group for those weighing more than 25 kg. A third patient who was receiving both lamotrigine and valproate was hospitalized because of pneumonia and treated with a cephalosporin. Stevens–Johnson syndrome developed in this patient shortly after lamotrigine was discontinued (the patient was withdrawn from the study for protocol violations). The rash improved after the antibiotic was stopped, and it could not be determined whether the rash was caused by the cephalosporin or lamotrigine. Lamotrigine was not associated with clinically significant changes in vital signs or the results of physical examination or laboratory tests.

Drug Monitoring

Plasma concentrations of carbamazepine, phenytoin, and valproate were not significantly different from base line at treatment week 4 or 16 in either group. The mean plasma lamotrigine concentrations among the patients who received the prescribed total daily maintenance dose for their weight ranged from 3.50 to 14.49 µg per milliliter. There was no apparent relation between plasma concentrations of lamotrigine at treatment week 16 and efficacy.

Discussion

We found that adding lamotrigine to the antiepileptic-drug regimen reduced the frequency of generalized seizures in patients with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome, confirming the results of small, open-label studies.^21,22,26 In three separate reports of adjunctive lamotrigine treatment for at least three months, a majority of patients in each study (91 percent,²¹ 60 percent,²² and 53 percent²⁶) had a greater than 50 percent reduction from base line in the frequency of seizures.

Felbamate is the only other antiepileptic medication that has been shown in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial⁷ to be effective in the treatment of seizures associated with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome. The occurrence of a placebo response in both the felbamate study and our study highlights the importance of including a placebo control group so that the magnitude of effects attributable to study-drug treatment can be accurately determined. Felbamate is not indicated as first-line therapy for the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome because of the high risk of hematologic and hepatic adverse events.²⁷

The effects of lamotrigine and placebo on atypical absence seizures were not significantly different. The difficulty in quantifying atypical absence seizures as well as the brief sampling periods for absence seizures (one hour before clinic visits on selected treatment days) may have contributed to this equivocal result. A similar lack of effect on absence seizures monitored for brief sampling periods on selected treatment days was reported with felbamate.⁷

Lamotrigine was well tolerated. The most frequently reported adverse events in both groups were pharyngitis and fever — typical childhood ailments that are not reported with similar frequency in lamotrigine studies in adult patients.^{12,13,14,15,16} The adverse event most frequently responsible for withdrawal was clinical deterioration of seizure control, which was more frequent in the placebo group. Two patients who were receiving lamotrigine and valproate were withdrawn from the study because of rash, which resolved in both patients without sequelae. This effect has also been observed in other studies of children with intractable seizures who were receiving lamotrigine and valproate,^18,19,22 particularly if high doses of lamotrigine were used in the early weeks of therapy.¹⁸ The overall rate of rash in this study was similar in the lamotrigine group (9 percent) and the placebo group (7 percent) and slightly lower than that reported previously in pediatric patients (16 percent),¹⁸ despite the fact that two thirds of the patients in our study were also taking valproate. However, the rate of dose escalation in our study was slower than in previous trials. These data highlight the need for strict adherence to the starting dose and dose-escalation schedule, particularly in patients who are also taking valproate.

Although our study was of relatively limited duration, others have reported that long-term treatment with lamotrigine in children and adults with severe epilepsy is safe and has few serious side effects. Of 3994 patients (children and adults) with severe epilepsy in the Prescription-Event Monitoring program in England who took lamotrigine for approximately 18 months, 9 percent reported some form of adverse event (rash, depression, aggression, or vomiting).²⁸ Besag et al. followed 155 children with intractable epilepsy for up to 3 years after they had completed 12 months of lamotrigine therapy; 70 percent completed 144 weeks or more of therapy.²⁹ Of the children who discontinued lamotrigine before week 144, only six were withdrawn because of adverse events.

Among the 21 patients (7 in the lamotrigine group and 14 in the placebo group) who withdrew from our study after randomization, data on the frequency of seizures were collected and analyzed for the time before, but not after, the study drug was discontinued. These patients received different therapies after withdrawal from the study according to their individual needs. Therefore, ours is an "as-treated" analysis rather than a true intention-to-treat analysis and may be subject to bias.³⁰ Nonetheless, we believe that our results are sufficiently strong and the number of patients who withdrew from the study after randomization is small enough that such bias is very unlikely to have produced a false positive result.

Our data indicate that the addition of lamotrigine to a regimen does not necessitate an alteration in the doses of other antiepileptic drugs. As reported in other studies in both children²² and adults,^13,14 lamotrigine did not affect plasma concentrations of other antiepileptic drugs, including carbamazepine, phenytoin, and valproate. In conclusion, we found that lamotrigine is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for seizures associated with the Lennox–Gastaut syndrome.

Funded by Glaxo Wellcome.

^* The members of the Lamictal Lennox–Gastaut Study Group are listed in the Appendix.

Source Information

From the American Memorial Hospital, Hôpital d'Enfants, Reims, France (J.M.); the Department of Neurology, Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington (E.T.); the Pediatric Clinic, Central County Hospital Ryhov, Jonkoping, Sweden (J.F.V.A.); Infantil Virgen del Rocio Hospital, Seville, Spain (M.N.B.); Central Nervous System Clinical Research, Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development, Greenford, Middlesex, United Kingdom (E.L.M.); and Central Nervous System Clinical Research, Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, N.C. (P.M.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Trevathan at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Kentucky Clinic L445, Lexington, KY 40536-0284.

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The members of the Lamictal Lennox–Gastaut Study Group are as follows: O. Dulac, Paris; J. Mai, Århus, Denmark; C. Billard, Tours, France; L. Vallee, Lille, France; F. Oberärztin, S. Ried, and W. Christe, Berlin, Germany; D. Rating, Heidelberg, Germany; F. Vigevano, Rome; C. Tassinari, Bologna, Italy; B. Dalla Bernardina, Verona, Italy; H. Majoie, Heeze, the Netherlands; A. Weber, Breda, the Netherlands; L. Laegreid, Sandvika, Norway; O. Eeg-Olofsson, Uppsala, Sweden; M. Bermejo, A. Martinez, and J. Campos Castellò, Madrid; M. Tallada i Serra, Barcelona, Spain; F. Kirkham, London; M. Noronha, Manchester, United Kingdom; S. Wallace, Cardiff, United Kingdom; A. Black, Adelaide, Australia; S. Berkovic, Melbourne, Australia; J. Pedespan, Bordeaux, France; B. Echenne, Montpellier, France; N. Pinsard, Marseille, France; D. Parain, Rouen, France; M. Peniello, Caen, France; J. Carriere, Toulouse, France; P. Chauvel, Rennes, France; P. Berquin, Amiens, France; S. Garrel, Grenoble, France; J. Schaff, Flavigny sur Moselle, France; T. Talvik, Tartu, Estonia; M. Douchowny and J. Gilman, Miami; J. Pellock, Richmond, Va.; R. Cheng, Atlanta; P. Crumrine and B. Lynch, Pittsburgh; J. Hahn, Stanford, Calif.; D. Griesemer and B. Wannamaker, Charleston, S.C.; K. Laxer and D. Bluestone, San Francisco; and E. Bebin, Birmingham, Ala.

Abstract PDF Letters Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited Related Article by Trevathan, E. PubMed Citation

Related Letters:

Lamotrigine for Generalized Seizures Associated with the Lennox–Gastaut Syndrome
Trevathan E., Mullens E. L., Manasco P.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 339:851-852, Sep 17, 1998. Correspondence

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