Modelling pharmacokinetics for sparse lamotrigine data in paediatrics

Abstract

The paediatric population represents a vulnerable group with developmental, physiological, and psychological differences from adults, which makes age and development-related research particularly important. It is estimated that between 50% and 90% of medicinal products used in paediatric population have never been specifically evaluated for use in that age group. Most physicians use ad hoc reasoning in the design of therapeutics and dosage regimens for these drugs in children, as there is still a lack of satisfactory models and software packages that will allow accurate predictions of drug levels with these drugs in these populations. This is of particular importance in a chronic neurological condition such as epilepsy. In this study, the value of a sparse data model, using Adapt® software, was developed for lamotrigine in a group of paediatric patients. [excerpt]