Clobazam for patients with Lennox–Gastaut syndrome and epilepsy

Abstract

Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a form of childhood epileptic encephalopathy that continues to be challenging to treat and manage. The available treatments have failed to provide good control for patients with this devastating epilepsy syndrome. Clobazam is a promising antiepileptic medication, given its effectiveness and relatively low rates of adverse effects. It has been studied and used in several countries for the treatment of refractory seizures, including those that occur with LGS. Clobazam (Onfi™; Lundbeck Inc., IL, USA) has been studied in the USA to demonstrate its efficacy and safety for the treatment of seizures associated with LGS, and Phase II and III trials have recently been completed. This article will explore the use of clobazam in the treatment of LGS and present the results of Phase II and III studies, along with an overall summary of the treatment of LGS, as well as the possible role of clobazam in a treatment algorithm. We based this article on the most relevant reports with the term ‘clobazam’ found through a Medline search (1966–2011).

Keywords::

• 1,5-benzodiazepine
• clobazam
• drop attacks
• drop seizures
• Lennox–Gastaut syndrome
• refractory epilepsy
• refractory seizures

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Y-T Ng has received consulting and speaking fees from Lundbeck Inc. and has received speaking fees from UCB Pharma, Inc. and Cyberonics, Inc., and serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Child Neurology, Pediatric Neurology and Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.