Abstract
Rufinamide (RUF), originally granted orphan drug status for the adjunctive treatment of seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) in 2004, is an orally active anticonvulsant, indicated as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in patients 1 year of age and older in the USA and Europe. It is structurally distinct from any other anticonvulsant drugs and suppresses neuronal hyperexcitability by prolonging the inactivation phase of voltage-gated sodium channels. It is extensively metabolized via enzymatic hydrolysis to a pharmacologically inactive derivative which is excreted in urine and feces. Overall response rate of RUF was observed in median 46.2% in controlled studies on patients with refractory epilepsies including LGS. Seizure freedom rates could be obtained in median 8.3%. Adverse events were observed in median 36.2%; no severe adverse events had been recorded in the studies. Most common AE’s were headache, dizziness, somnolence, vomiting, nausea, fatigue, and diplopia.
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Hartlieb, T., Kluger, G. (2020). Anti-convulsant Agents: Rufinamide. In: Riederer, P., Laux, G., Mulsant, B., Le, W., Nagatsu, T. (eds) NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_293-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_293-1
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