Abstracts

Children with complex seizure disorders often are on polytherapy with refractory epilepsy. Felbamate is an effective anticonvulsant for mixed seizure disorders, but many children are no longer using this drug due to the fear of a risk of bone marrow or liver damage, which in rare cases proved fatal. Our long-term observation of these risks in our patients suggests that Felbamate may be safe in the pediatric population, and that earlier fear of this drug may be overstated. We reviewed retrospectively successful long-term use in a large pediatric series chronically on Felbamate.
A retrospective chart review of 15 children treated from 1995 to present with Felbatol was performed (9 males, 6 females; mean age 7.5 years wtih range 1.33 to 16.17 years). We reviewed duration of therapy, concurrent medications, number of medications failed prior to Felbamate, and laboratory values of liver functions and hematology studies. Data was organized using Excel software.
Felbamate treatment has an average duration of 2.17 years (range 3 months to 7.75 years) with 86% of patients remaining on Felbamate for greater than 6 months. Major side effects were only anorexia or insomnia. The average dosage was approximately 1200 mg/day. Patients had failed an average 3.2 drugs before trying Felbatol. No serious hepatic or hematological effects were noted. Felbatol was able to be used as monotherapy in 27% of these patients and seizure control improved in 11 out of 15 patients.
Felbamate is still a viable choice in refractory epilepsy in children. Long-term use was very safe in our clinical series with no hepatic or bone marrow injuries noted.
[Supported by: MedPointe Pharmaceuticals ]