Value of topiramate in treating tourette syndrome

Objective:To determine the efficacy and safety of topiramate in treating tourette syndrome (TS).Methods:Sixty-five patients who met with the DSV-IV criteria for TS were investigated by open-controlled study.The 41 of total patients were treated with topiramate (from 0.5~1 mg kg d-1 to 4~6 mg kg d-1) as the research group, and the others were treated with haloperidol (1 mg/d, no more than 6 mg/d) as control group.During 48 weeks of treatment, the efficacy was assessed by the Yale Global Tie Severity Scale (YGTSS) and the safety were evaluated by Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS). All patients were also divided into subgroups by age and the style of outbreak.Results:The efficacy in the research group was significantly better than that in control group, with response rates of 87.5% and 40.0% respectively after 8-week treatment, and the YGTSS total scorce in research group was significantly lower than that in control group (P0.05).After 48-week treatment, there were more higher response rate (90% vs 60%), lower YGTSS total score, and higher reduction rate of YGTSS score in research group than in control group (all P0.05).The efficacy in limb group and younger group was better than that in the other groups respectively.The adverse reactions in the topiramate group were milder than that in control group at the end of 8-week and 48-week treatment (P0.05).Conclusion:It is effective and safe of topiramate in treating tourette syndrome, especially for some subset.