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Oxycarbazepine Equally Effective as Carbamazepine for New Onset Trigeminal Neuralgia: Presented at WCP

By Peggy Peck
Special to DG News

SAN DIEGO, CA -- August 22, 2002 -- Oxycarbazepine (OXC), a keto-analog of carbamazepine (CBZ), is as effective as CBZ for the treatment of new onset trigeminal neuralgia and may be better tolerated, according to a double-blind, comparative study.

Ahmad Beydoun, MD, of the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan presented the study findings on behalf of the Oxcarbazine OT/TN3 Study Group on August 20^th at the 10^th World Congress on Pain (WCP).

The researchers recruited 46 patients aged 40 years or older with new onset, previously untreated idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. Twenty-four patients were randomized to receive OXC and 22 to receive CBZ.

All patients were titrated over a two- to four-week period (initial dose 300 mg OXC twice daily or 200 mg CBZ twice daily titrated to most effective dose) followed by a four-week maintenance period.

Efficacy variables were number of attacks, pain-free states, evoked pain, as well as global assessment of efficacy and tolerability.

The most frequently used maintenance doses were OXC 750 mg per day and CBZ 500 mg per day. There were no significant differences between the groups for any efficacy variable, Dr. Beydoun noted.

In both groups, 100 percent of patients responded to treatment and 50 percent became pain-free. Seventy percent of those in the OXC arm significantly reduced evoked pain compared to 59 percent of those on CBZ.

Global assessments of efficacy were rated as good or excellent by 96 percent of the OXC patients and 91 percent of the CBZ patients. Tolerability was rated as good to excellent by 68 percent of the OXC patients compared to 52 percent of the CBZ patients..

One patient in the OXC group discontinued treatment due to a rash.

Results from this study suggest that OXC is an effective treatment alternative to CBZ for patients with new onset trigeminal neuralgia, Dr. Beydoun concluded.

The study was funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals.

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