Vigabatrin Medicine - Information, Side effects and uses of Vigabatrin

Vigabatrin is indicated for the adjunctive management of epilepsy that is not satisfactorily controlled by conventional therapy.Vigabatrin is indicated as initial monotherapy for the management of infantile spasms (West syndrome).

Vigabatrin indirectly increases the levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an inhibitory neurotransmitter, by inhibiting the enzyme responsible for regulating GABA levels, gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T).

Precaution and Warning while taking Vigabatrin

• No carcinogenic effects were observed in mice or rats that received doses of vigabatrin as high as 150 mg per kg of body weight per day for up to 24 months.
• It is not known whether vigabatrin is distributed into breast milk. However, the manufacturer states that vigabatrin therapy is contraindicated during lactation.
• Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated pediatrics-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of vigabatrin in children greater than 2 months of age. However, because of the risks of ophthalmological abnormalities and the difficulty in assessing visual fields in infants and young children, vigabatrin should be used in these patients only if clearly indicated. The need for continued vigabatrin therapy for all infants and young children should be reassessed periodically, and frequent examination by a pediatric ophthalmologist is recommended.
• No evidence demonstrating a connection between vigabatrin administration and genotoxicity was found following studies involving in vitroand in vivosystems, eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, and tests for both gene mutations and chromosome aberrations.
• Although appropriate studies on the relationship of age to the effects of vigabatrin have not been performed in the geriatric population, no geriatrics-specific problems have been documented to date. However, elderly patients are more likely to have age-related renal function impairment, which may require adjustment of dosage in patients receiving vigabatrin.
• Pregnancy¾ Vigabatrin is not recommended during pregnancy. Risk-benefit must be carefully considered.
  Studies in animals have shown that vigabatrin may cause serious neurotoxicity in the fetus.