1996-7; author reply 1997
Comments on an article by Michael Strupp et al. (see record 2011-16578-012). M. Strupp et al. convincingly demonstrate that 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) reduces the frequency of attacks, but it would be interesting to know if it modified the severity or duration of the attacks. A rough calculation based on the values provided for total number of attacks and duration per month suggests that although EA 2 patients experienced fewer attacks, breakthrough attacks in patients taking 4-AP lasted the same amount of time as in patients on placebo. A similar effect was previously demonstrated in the tottering mouse model of EA2 whereby 4-AP reduced the frequency but not the severity of attacks. Taken together, the results from human and mouse studies suggest that 4-AP inhibits the initiation of an attack, but once instigated 4-AP has little effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)