Citation

Leiberich P, Nickel MK, Tritt K, Pedrosa Gil F. J. Psychopharmacol. 2008; 22(7): 805-808.

Affiliation

Inntalklink, Simbach am Inn, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0269881107084004

PMID

18308777

Abstract

Borderline patients often display pathological aggression. We previously tested lamotrigine, an anti-convulsant, in therapy for aggression in women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (J Psychopharmacol 2005; 19: 287-291), and found significant changes on most scales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) after eight weeks. To assess the longer-term efficacy of lamotrigine in therapy for aggression in women with BPD, this 18-month follow-up observation was carried out, in which patients (treated with lamotrigine: n = 18; former placebo group: n = 9) were tested every six months. According to the intent-to-treat principle, significant changes on all scales of the STAXI were observed in the lamotrigine-treated subjects. All subjects tolerated lamotrigine relatively well. Lamotrigine appears to be an effective and relatively safe agent in the longer-term treatment of aggression in women with BPD.

Language: en