Zonisamide Changes Unilateral Cortical Excitability in Focal Epilepsy Patients.
- Author:
Eun Yeon JOO
1
;
Hye Jung KIM
;
Yang Hee LIM
;
Ki Hwan JI
;
Seung Bong HONG
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: transcranial magnetic stimulation; focal epilepsy; zonisamide; cortical excitability
- MeSH: Epilepsies, Partial; Humans; Isoxazoles; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
- From:Journal of Clinical Neurology 2010;6(4):189-195
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To evaluate changes in cortical excitability induced by zonisamide (ZNS) in focal epilepsy patients. METHODS: Twenty-four drug-nasmall yi, Ukrainianve focal epilepsy patients (15 males; overall mean age 29.8 years) were enrolled. The transcranial magnetic stimulation parameters obtained using two Magstim 200 stimulators were the resting motor threshold, amplitude of the motor-evoked potential (MEP), cortical silent period, short intracortical inhibition, and intracortical facilitation. These five transcranial magnetic stimulation parameters were measured before and after ZNS, and the findings were compared. RESULTS: All 24 patients were treated with ZNS monotherapy (200-300 mg/day) for 8-12 weeks. After ZNS, MEP amplitudes decreased (-36.9%) significantly in epileptic hemispheres (paired t-test with Bonferroni's correction for multiple comparisons, p<0.05), whereas the mean resting motor threshold, cortical silent period, short intracortical inhibition, and intracortical facilitation were unchanged (p>0.05). ZNS did not affect cortical excitability in nonepileptic hemispheres. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that ZNS decreases cortical excitability only in the epileptic hemispheres of focal epilepsy patients. MEP amplitudes may be useful for evaluating ZNS-induced changes in cortical excitability.
