Current Approaches to Assessing the Safety and Efficacy of Lamotrigine in Children and Adolescents with Epileptic Syndromes Associated with Focal Seizures

Abstract

Scientific relevance . Epileptic syndromes associated with focal seizures often develop in children and adolescents and may be accompanied by cognitive impairment, mental disorders, and endocrine disorders, which require additional medication apart from anti-epileptic medicinal products. Currently, the selection of safe and effective therapies for epileptic syndromes, especially in paediatric populations, is a pressing challenge for epileptology. Aim. This study aimed at a comprehensive assessment of the safety and efficacy of lamotrigine in therapeutic doses for children and adolescents with epileptic syndromes associated with focal seizures. Materials and methods. A total of 53 patients aged 3 to 18 years with various epileptic syndromes associated with focal seizures were under observation in 2020–2023. During this period, 37 patients (69.8%) received monotherapy with lamotrigine, and 16 patients (30.2%) received combination therapy including lamotrigine and two or more other medicinal products. When evaluating the safety and efficacy of pharmacotherapy in adolescent patients, the authors selectively used the Software for Post-marketing Studies of Anti-epileptic Medicinal Products developed at the Scientific Centre for Expert Evaluation of Medicinal Products. Results. With lamotrigine, the highest rate of complete clinical remission was observed in patients with focal epilepsy with onset in childhood and adolescence (90.9% of cases). For structural focal epilepsy, 16.7% of patients achieved complete freedom from seizures, and 50% demonstrated a pronounced response to treatment. However, patients with epilepsy due to local structural changes in the neocortex (33.3% of cases) had a prognosis of severe epilepsy. For epileptic encephalopathies with onset in childhood, 66.7% of patients achieved a ≥50% reduction in the frequency of seizures. Seizure reduction improved the quality of life of patients and their parents, especially of those with a long history of unsuccessful treatment attempts. There were no adverse reactions associated with lamotrigine except those listed in the summary of product characteristics. The Software for Post-marketing Studies of Anti-epileptic Medicinal Products provided a means for scoring and plotting the changes in the condition of adolescents without severe cognitive and memory impairment undergoing lamotrigine treatment. Conclusions. According to the study results, lamotrigine is highly effective and has a favourable safety profile in patients with early-onset epileptic syndromes associated with focal seizures. Moreover, lamotrigine is applicable to the treatment of attention, memory, expressive speech disorders, and aggressive behaviour. Therefore, lamotrigine may be recommended for treating children and adolescents with comorbid epileptic syndromes and cognitive and emotional disorders. Specialised software improves the quality of real-world evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of anti-epileptic medication.