Midazolam nasal spray may control acute repetitive seizures in emergency setting

According to recent findings from the study published in the Journal of Epilepsia, researchers have observed that MDZ-NS 5 mg may provide an improvement over placebo for the treatment of intermittent bouts of increased seizure activity in the epilepsy monitoring unit.

Midazolam nasal spray (MDZ-NS) is indicated for acute treatment of intermittent, stereotypic episodes of frequent seizure activity (ie, seizure clusters, acute repetitive seizures) that are distinct from a patient's usual seizure pattern, in patients 12 years of age and older with epilepsy. Hence, David C Spencer and associates from the Department of Neurology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA carried out this trial basically aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MDZ-NS in patients with epilepsy who were admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit for seizure characterization/presurgical evaluation. 

The authors carried out a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial which included sixty eligible patients with ≥2 seizures in the 6-hour window preceding trial medication administration for whom treatment was appropriate based on the investigator's judgment was randomized (1:1) to MDZ-NS 5 mg or placebo. Efficacy outcomes were the proportion of patients seizure-free for 6 hours after treatment and time to first seizure within 6 hours. Safety and tolerability outcomes included treatment-emergent adverse events.