Methods
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Drexel University College of Medicine. We retrospectively reviewed the records of children and adolescents with epilepsy treated with lacosamide as adjunctive treatment and as monotherapy at our institution between 2009 and 2011. Patients younger than 21 years of age with refractory epilepsy (generalized or focal) at the time of the initiation of treatment with lacosamide were included in the study. The daily dose of lacosamide was the optimal dose determined individually for each patient as required to improve efficacy and/or reduce adverse effects. The following data were collected: gender, age, developmental/cognitive level, seizure type and etiology, age at seizure onset and at initiation of lacosamide treatment, number of antiepileptic drugs used, lacosamide dose and dosing schedule, previous use of vagal nerve stimulator or ketogenic diet, follow-up duration, treatment response, and adverse events.
The response to treatment was quantified using data on seizure frequency before and while on lacosamide treatment. It was based on caregiver reports during follow-up visits and classified as seizure free, >75% reduction, >50% reduction, and ineffective (all