Effective dose of topiramate in pediatric migraine prophylaxis

OBJECTIVE: Migraine is a common neurological disorder in childhood and adolescence. Topiramate is a new anticonvulsant drug, recently being used in migraine prophylaxis in adults, although it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for prevention of pediatric migraine. The present study was planned and performed to evaluate the efficacy of low-dose topiramate in pediatric migraine prophylaxis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study, including 60 patients with migraine headaches was performed for a period of two months. The patients were randomly divided into two treatment groups – treated by topiramate < 2 mg/kg/day and > 2 mg/kg/day. All the patients were evaluated at 0, 4, and 8 weeks of the study for the clinical response. RESULTS: The patients receiving topiramate < 2 mg/kg/day (mean dose of 1.2 ± 0.7 mg/kg/day) showed a reduction in the mean (±SD) of migraine frequency from 6.2 (±2.4) to 3.0 (±1.8) episodes per month, headache intensity from 7.2 (±1.95) to 3.7 (±1.8) based on the Visual Analog Scale, and headache duration from 5.4 (±2.1) to 2.2 (±1.3) h. In the patients treated with topiramate > 2 mg/kg/day (mean dose of 2.4 ± 0.5 mg/kg/day), the mean (±SD) of monthly headache frequency reduced from 6.9 (±2.1) to 3.24 (±1.2) per month, intensity from 7.11 (±1.4) to 3.14 (±2.41), and headache duration from 5.2 (±2.4) to 1.8 (±1.2) h, at the end of follow-up (P > 0.05). The most common side effects of topiramate were paresthesias (five patients), anorexia (four patients), drowsiness (four patients). CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that low-dose of topiramate (<2 mg/kg/day) is effective, well-tolerated, safe, and suggested as an alternative prophylactic treatment for pediatric migraine.