Citation

Spiller HA, Wiles D, Russell JL, Casavant MJ. Hum. Exp. Toxicol. 2015; 35(2): 109-113.

Affiliation

Central Ohio Poison Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0960327115579206

PMID

25825412

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Tiagabine is a novel antiepileptic that acts by increasing synaptic and extracellular gamma-aminobutyric acid concentrations. Information concerning overdose of tiagabine is limited. After introduction, an increasing number of off-label uses suggested that tiagabine use would increase. However in 2005 and 2008, warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were issued on the risk of seizures in non-epileptic and increased suicide ideation. We evaluated the temporal trends associated with these two warnings as well as clinical outcomes from tiagabine overdose.

METHOD: A retrospective review of all single substance tiagabine exposures in National Poison Data System (NPDS) from 2000 to 2012.

RESULTS: A total of 2147 patients had ingested tiagabine, with a mean of 165 year(-1). This was disproportionally distributed, with a steep rise leading up to 2004 (max 559 year(-1)) and then a significant decline (p < 0.05) between 2005 and 2006. The number of cases reported to NPDS mirrored the sales of tiagabine. Clinical effects were predominantly neurological, with the most commonly reported effects being drowsiness (27%), agitation (19%), confusion (12%), seizures (11%), and tachycardia (10%). In all, 758 patients (35%) showed a major or moderate medical outcome, with no deaths reported. A disproportionate share of the major outcomes was in the suicide attempt group (73%). The majority of patients (75%) were treated in a health-care facility (HCF).

CONCLUSIONS: The HCF usage is likely due to high rate of symptomatic patients (59%) and the large proportion of suicide attempt cases. The frequency of tiagabine cases in NPDS mirrored pharmaceutical sales, with steep declines temporally related to the 2005 FDA warning.

Language: en