The altered eating pattern does tend to stabilize with time, and therapy was not discontinued in any patient exhibiting weight increase. With carbamazepine therapy, skin rash was a significant adverse effect and in 1 case was associated with serious leukopenia. The other adverse effects were not considered clinically important. Therapeutic efficacy was stable during follow-up. We believe that vigabatrin can be considered as equally suitable as other traditionally used drugs for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy.
Therapeutic efficacy is comparable with that of carbamazepine.
The adverse effects of vigabatrin are of slight clinical account. Further comparative studies evaluating the cognitive and behavioral effects of the various antiepileptic drugs will define more clearly the role of vigabatrin in the complex treatment of the young patient with epilepsy. Accepted for publication March 13, 1998. Bernardina BD, Fontana E, Vigevano F, et al. Dulac O, Chiron C, Luna D, et al.