Objectives – To investigate whether zonisamide remains effective and well tolerated in the treatment of refractory partial epilepsy during long‐term treatment and with flexible dosing in clinical practice.
Materials and methods – Patients with refractory partial epilepsy who completed a fixed‐dose, randomized, double‐blind clinical trial were recruited in an open‐label extension study with adjustment of zonisamide and other antiepileptic drug dosage according to the treating physician’s usual clinical practice.
Results – An intention‐to‐treat analysis of 317 patients showed that zonisamide was well tolerated with a predictable safety profile. Patient retention rates at 1, 2 and 3 years were 65.3%, 44.5% and 28.8%, respectively. Zonisamide treatment was associated with a maintained reduction in seizure frequency, with some patients achieving prolonged periods of seizure freedom.
Conclusions – Flexible dosing with zonisamide demonstrated a good safety profile and sustained efficacy in the long‐term adjunctive treatment of refractory partial epilepsy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.