Investigating the Safety of Fampridine in Patients with Different Stages of Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Background:Fampridine is the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to improve their movement and has exhibited a clinically significant improvement in gait function in a subset of MS patients with Expanded Disability Status Scale (ESDSS) from 4 to 7. Nevertheless, this drug has been reported to possess some adverse effects (AEs) like seizure because of its pharmacological features. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence rate of post-medication side effects (SEs) of fampridine in MS patients.Methods:This prospective cohort study includes MS patients aged between 18 and 65 years, referred to the neurology clinic of Kashani Hospital from April 2022 to October 2022, all with administration of fampridine (10 mg tablet twice daily according to the product specifications). Safety in these patients was monitored through monthly SEs checklist questions during 6 months of screening. SPSS version 18 was used to analyze the data of this study.Results:From 319 participants screened at baseline, 254 patients with MS, including 127 relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), 101 secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), and 26 primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), were included in the study. The most observed AEs in SPMS and RRMS patients were dry mouth (13.9 vs. 15) and insomnia (12.9 vs. 11), respectively. Urinary tract infection (UTI) (11.5) and stomachache (11.5) were the most common SEs in PPMS patients. The most severe complication of the patients was back pain, while digestive complications were less severe. Also, insomnia and UTI were the patients' most persistent SEs.Conclusions:The drug seems to be safe and well tolerated, as the SEs were mild and transient and they were consistent with most of the previous studies focusing on this medication.