Clobazam for Refractory Focal Epilepsy

The effect of 1,5-benzodiazepine clobazam was assessed in a double-blind add-on trial in 20 patients with chronic complex partial seizures uncontrolled by maximally tolerable daily dosage of standard antiepileptic drug therapy. The number of seizures was lower during the three months of active treatment. At the end of the third month, eight (40%) of the patients had a seizure reduction by more than 75%, including four patients (20%) who had complete control. Tolerance to the antiepileptic effect of clobazam was noted in 56% of the patients, and mild transient sedation occurred in 40% of the patients. Despite these drawbacks, clobazam is an effective add-on drug for individual patients with refractory focal epilepsy.