Topiramate reduced aggression in female patients with borderline personality disorder

Excerpt

Until the first controlled studies on borderline patients were carried out [1‐3], there were only individual case histories and retrospective studies on the use of the anticonvulsant topiramate in the treatment of aggressive states. In one of these randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, 31 female borderline personality disorder patients were treated with either topiramate (n = 21) or placebo (n = 10) for eight weeks and examined using the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI) [1]. Statistically significant changes were observed in the topiramate group compared to the placebo group on most of the STAXI scales [1]. Topiramate was tolerated relatively well by all the patients and the significant reduction in body weight that occurred was generally regarded as a positive side-effect [1]. Blinding was discontinued after this brief study. …