Rufinamide (inovelon) in the treatment of Lennox–gastaut syndrome (a review of literature)

Abstract

Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a childhood epileptic encephalopathy characterized by frequent polymorphic seizures (including tonic axial seizures), pronounced cognitive impairment, typical changes in the electroencephalogram and drug resistance. Since the disease is quite common (accounts for 4–10 % of all childhood epilepsy) and is characterized by various seizures that are frequently resistant to multiple antiepileptic drugs, great hopes are currently centered on the development of novel antiepileptic drugs with principally different mechanisms of action aimed to treat this severe form of epilepsy. Rufinamide (inovelon) is a promising antiepileptic drug for LGS therapy. In 2008, it was approved by the FDA as an adjunctive treatment of seizures associated with LGS in adults and children over 4 years of age. Rufinamide demonstrated its efficacy against both drop seizures (tonic/atonic) and generalized seizures (tonic, atonic and tonic-clonic) in LGS. In January 2015, the drug was approved for use in the Russian Federation for seizures associated with LGS in patients over 4 years of age. Multiple studies have demonstrated high efficacy and good tolerability of rufinamide in children and adults with epilepsy. In this article, we provide a systematic review of the currently available data on the use of rufinamide in the treatment of seizures associated with LGS.