A 21-week open-label clinical trial of pregabalin as adjunctive therapy in partial seizures at multiple centers in Mexico (PREPS Mexico).

PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy of pregabalin in the treatment of refractory partial seizures.

METHODS

This was a 21-week, open-label study of pregabalin (150-600 mg/day) as an adjunctive therapy in adults with refractory partial seizures. The study included an 8-week baseline period, a 9-week dose-optimization period, and a 12-week treatment-observation period. The primary assessment was mean percentage change in 28-day seizure rate between baseline and the last 12 weeks of treatment.

RESULTS

In total, 136 Mexican patients were included in this study (55.9% women; mean age/epilepsy duration, 35.2/22.9 years). The median and mean (95% confidence interval [CI]) 28-day baseline seizure rates were 3.9 and 7.8 (5.4-10.2), respectively. The mean (95% CI) reduction in seizure frequency was 51.2% (43.0-59.3) over the last 12 weeks of treatment, while the median reduction was 57.9%. The percentage of patients with a ≥ 5 0% or ≥ 75% reduction in seizure frequency was 63.6% and 48.8%, respectively. The percentage of patients who were seizure-free during the last 4 and 12 weeks of treatment was 40.5% and 20.7%, respectively. The most common adverse events were somnolence (39.7%), dizziness (16.2%), and weight gain (14.0%).

CONCLUSION

Pregabalin was well tolerated and associated with significant reductions in seizure frequency.