On Being Seizure-Free

Evaluation of one-year effectiveness of clobazam as an add-on therapy to anticonvulsant monotherapy in participants with epilepsy having uncontrolled seizure episodes: An Indian experience

OBJECTIVES

To prospectively study the effectiveness and safety of clobazam as an add-on therapy in patients with epilepsy whose seizures are not adequately controlled with antiseizure medicine (ASM) monotherapy.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective, observational study at 28 neurology outpatient clinics in India from June 2017 to October 2019. Consecutive patients with epilepsy (older than 3 years) with inadequate seizure control with ASM monotherapy were initiated on clobazam. Patients were followed up at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Seizure control and adverse events were assessed through personal interviews and seizure diaries.

RESULTS

Out of 475 eligible patients, data of 429 patients (men: 65.5%) were evaluated (46 excluded due to protocol deviations). The median age was 25 (range, 3-80 years) years and the median duration of epilepsy was 3 (0.1-30) years. The majority of patients had focal epilepsy (55.0%) and genetic generalized epilepsy (40.1%). The one-year follow-up was completed by 380 (88.5%) patients. At one-year follow-up, 317 (83.4%; N = 380) patients in the study remained seizure free. These 317 patients who were seizure free at 12 months comprised 73.9% of the evaluable population (N = 429). In 98.8% of patients, the primary reason for adding clobazam was inadequate control of seizures with treatment. During one-year follow-up, a total of 113 (22.6%) patients experienced at least one adverse event which included 103 (20.6%) patients who experienced 386 episodes of seizures.

CONCLUSION

The study provides preliminary evidence that clobazam is effective and well-tolerated as add-on therapy for a period of one year among patients with epilepsy inadequately stabilized with monotherapy.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

CTRI/2017/12/010906.

Clobazam as Add-on Therapy for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Hippocampal Sclerosis

Background:

Clobazam is a benzodiazepine with known antiepileptic action; however, it is not considered first line therapy in the treatment of epilepsy. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of clobazam as add-on therapy in adults with temporal lobe epilepsy associated with MRI evidence of hippocampal sclerosis (HS).

Method:

This is a retrospective study, conducted at our epilepsy clinic which evaluated clobazam as add-on therapy in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and MRI signs of HS. Clobazam was prescribed based on the minimum effective dose up to the maximum tolerated dose.

Results:

Seventy-eight patients met the inclusion criteria (51 women), ages ranging from 16 to 76 years old (mean=42.2). Dosage of clobazam ranged from 5 to 60 mg/day (mean=22.6 mg/day). Clobazam was used from one month to eight years (mean=29 months). Sixteen (20.5%) patients were seizure-free, 20 (25.5%) had more than 75% improvement in seizure control, eight (10%) had more than 50% and 20 (26%) were non responders to clobazam. In 14 (18%) we could not determine seizure frequency during follow-up. The improvement in seizure control lasted for more than one year in 30 (68%) patients.

Conclusion:

Our data suggest that clobazam should be considered as add-on therapy in the treatment of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy associated with MRI signs of HS.

Effectiveness of clobazam as add-on therapy in children with refractory focal epilepsy

The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of clobazam in children with refractory focal epilepsy. We investigated 100 consecutive patients concerning etiology of epilepsy, previously used antiepileptic drugs, seizure frequency and adverse events. Clobazam was introduced as add-on therapy in patients with previous failure of at least two monotherapies. Mean age was eight years-old and 39 patients were girls. Clobazam mean dosage was 23.6 mg/day. Mean use of clobazam was 18.6 months. Twenty-two patients had adverse events. Twenty-six patients became seizure-free, 11 had an improvement of >75% and in 58 there was no modification in seizure frequency. Five patients had an increase in seizure frequency. Clobazam efficacy lasted for more than one year in 42% of the seizure-free patients. Clobazam seems to be safe and effective in the treatment of focal epilepsy in childhood and should be considered in patients with refractory seizures.