Vigabatrin: no microvacuoles in a human brain

Abstract

Vigabatrin (gamma-vinyl-GABA) has been shown to be an effective antiepileptic drug. However, clinical investigations have been hampered by the finding of intramyelin edema (microvacuoles) in rats and dogs. In an autopsy study of a 38-year-old woman with astrocytoma, treated with vigabatrin 80 mg/kg body weight per day for over 6 months and 125 mg/kg body weight per day for the last 2 months as add-on therapy because of drug-resistant epilepsy, we did not find any microvacuoles in the brain. So far microvacuoles have never been observed in primates, warranting continued investigations of this promising antiepileptic drug.