Review Yields Positive Results for Medication Ativan when Treating Severe Epilepsy

Special to EpilepsyUSA
Posted: January 25, 2006

According to a study review published in the October issue of The Cochrane Library, the medication Ativan, or lorazepam, is better than Valium or Dilantin for stopping status epilepticus in an emergency room setting.

Researcher Kameshwar Prasad, of All India Institute of Medical Science, and his colleagues analyzed 11 randomized studies involving 2,017 patients. These patients had experienced either or both status epilepticus or premonitory seizures, which are shorter events that generally occur with increasing frequency and severity before a status epilepticus emergency. The studies also involved the anesthetic Versed, or midazolam, phenobarbitone, lorazepam, diazepam and phenytoin.

Gregory L. Barkley, M.D., chair of the Epilepsy Foundation's professional advisory board, wasn't surprised to hear of Ativan's success.

"Lorazepam and diazepam do offer the best means for stopping status epilepticus abruptly," Barkley said, "but it should be noted that phenytoin is important as a follow up drug."

A study regarding midazolam, an experimental medication much like diazepam in that it doesn't require a medical expert to administer it, was published in the July 16 issue of the medical journal The Lancet. It is a medication that involves infusing a tranquillizer into the mouth between the gums and cheek.

"Midazolam is an emerging treatment under active investigation," Barkley said. "At this time, not enough data has been generated about the drug for an evidence-based recommendation for its use."