Abstract
Flunarizine is of established value for the treatment of cerebral circulatory disorders such as vertigo and migraine. Moreover, flunarizine shows antiepileptic effects. We stndied this antiepileptic effects in 15 children with intractable partial epilepsy. They were between 6 and 16 years of age (mean 10. 9 years old), and their seizures repeated weekly or daily in spite of the therapeutic plasma level of standard antiepileptic drugs. Flunarizine was given in a dosage from 5 mg to 10 mg daily, and comedication remained unchanged throughout.
Eight of 15 patients (53%) showed an improvement. One patient showed a 75% reduction of seizure incidence, 7 more than 50% and 7 unchanged. But two of them improved only transiently, suggesting the development of tolerance to the drug. Adverse effects of sleepiness and increasing appetite manifested in 8 patients, but were not severe. The plasma levels of comedication anticonvulsants were not influenced to flunarizine therapy. One patient, who were examined regional cerebral blood flow using IMPSPECT before and during flunarizine therapy, showed improvement of regional cerebral blood flow in epileptic foci. This suggested that the effect to cerebral circulation might be related to the mechanisms of flunarizine antiepileptic properties.
