Abstract

POZO ALONSO, Albia J.; POZO LAUZAN, Desiderio  and  CORDERO LOPEZ, Girelda. Short term effect of vigabatrin in infantile spasms. Rev Cubana Pediatr [online]. 2007, vol.79, n.1, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3119.

The purpose of this paper was to assess the  short term effect of vigabatrin in 18 patients that were diagnosed  infantile spasms.   Thirteen of them were treated with monotherapy, and six of them were treated of first intention. The average maximum dose of vigabatrin was 130 mg/(kg∙day) (range 75-170 mg/[kg∙day]). The epileptic spasms ceased in 44.4 % of the cases at 18.4 days as an average after the beginning of the treatment with vigabatrin (range 3 to 43 days). The  average dose of response to vigabatrin was  103 mg/(kg∙day) (range 50 to 156 mg/[kg∙day]). In 16.7 % of the children it was possible to reduce the crises  more than 90 % , whereas in 5.6 % the epileptic spasms decreased   more than 50 %. The epileptic spasms persisted in  33.3 %. An electroencephalographic improvement was observed  in 55.6 % of the cases, and in 5.6 % the discharges vanished.  Hipsarrhythmia disappeared in 75 % of the cases. It was concluded that vigabatrin should  be used as monotherapy or as an adjuvant therapy  in patients  with infantile spasms.

Keywords : Epileptic encephalopathy; epileptic spasms; infantile spasms; vigabatrin; Wests syndrome.