Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Nov:42:20-28.
doi: 10.1016/j.seizure.2016.09.004. Epub 2016 Sep 22.

Intravenous lacosamide in seizure emergencies: Observations from a hospitalized in-patient adult population

Affiliations
Free article

Intravenous lacosamide in seizure emergencies: Observations from a hospitalized in-patient adult population

Giuseppe d'Orsi et al. Seizure. 2016 Nov.
Free article

Abstract

Purpose: to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous (IV) lacosamide (LCM) in the treatment of seizure clusters (SC) and status epilepticus (SE) in hospitalized adult patients.

Methods: we prospectively analyzed treatment response, seizure outcome, and adverse effects of IV LCM in 38 patients with seizure emergencies (15 with SC, 23 with SE) during a hospital stay. The loading dose of IV LCM was 200-400mg and the maintenance dose was 200-400mg daily. Response to IV LCM was evaluated within 20min, 4h and 24h of LCM infusion.

Results: an acute anti-seizure effect after IV LCM was especially evident when it was first used - (SC) or second line (established SE) treatment. In particular, 87% of SC patients (13/15) and 80% of established SE (8/10) demonstrated response to LCM treatment, while no patients with super-refractory SE (0/8) responded to IV LCM according to our criteria. The loading of IV LCM was well tolerated, with mild adverse effects (2/38 temporary dizziness). In most patients, during and after administration of the loading dose of IV LCM a temporary (30min-1h) sedation was observed. No ECG and laboratory values-changes were documented in any of the patients.

Conclusions: LCM is an effective and well-tolerated treatment when used to treat SC in hospitalized adult patients. As add-on therapy, it may be useful to stop seizure activity in patients with focal SE not responding to first/second-line intravenous AEDs.

Keywords: Hospitalized adult population; Lacosamide; Seizure clusters; Seizure emergencies; Status epilepticus; Video-EEG monitoring.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources