Lamotrigine treatment of aggression in female borderline patients, Part II: an 18-month follow-up

Borderline patients often display pathological aggression. We
previously tested lamotrigine, an anti-convulsant, in therapy for
aggression in women with borderline personality disorder (BPD) (J
Psychopharmacol 2005; 19: 287–291), and found significant changes
on most scales of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory
(STAXI) after eight weeks. To assess the longerterm efficacy of
lamotrigine in therapy for aggression in women with BPD, this
18-month follow-up observation was carried out, in which patients
(treated with lamotrigine: n = 18; former placebo group: n = 9)
were tested every six months. According to the intent-to-treat
principle, significant changes on all scales of the STAXI were
observed in the lamotrigine-treated subjects. All subjects
tolerated lamotrigine relatively well. Lamotrigine appears to be an
effective and relatively safe agent in the longer-term treatment of
aggression in women with BPD.