This is a prospective study of children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome receiving clobazam as adjunctive therapy. This pilot study aims to examine medication effectiveness as it relates to seizure reduction, as well as improvement in parent-reported behavior and quality of life (QOL).
Methods:
Ten patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome aged 3-11 years were enrolled in this 6-week, 4 phase study. Seizure frequency, QOL, and Aberrant Behavior Checklist questionnaires were evaluated at 0, 2, 6, and 10 weeks during the study.
Results:
Patients showed improvement on indices of QOL, including physical activities (62.5%), well-being (37.5%), cognition (87.5%), social activities (37.5%), behavior (87.5%), general health (50%), and overall QOL (87.5%). The Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy (QOLCE) questionnaire revealed significant improvement in cognition (P = .008), social activities (P = .049), behavior (P = .038), and overall QOL (P = .018). The Aberrant Behavior Checklist exhibited a trend toward improvement in hyperactivity.
Conclusion:
There was improvement in all patients with documented baseline seizures (8/10), with 5 showing significant improvement (95%-100% reduction) and 3 showing minor improvement (7%-23% reduction). Statistically significant improvement in areas of cognition, social activities, behavior, and overall QOL were seen. An overall trend toward a positive well-being was seen in our patients with clobazam, as adjunct therapy for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in children.
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