Pediatrics Medical News about pediatric epilepsy;antiepiepileptic drug

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Effectiveness of the first antiepileptic drug in the treatment of pediatric epilepsy
Pediatric Neurology , 06/24/09

Ma MS et al. – Overall, 66.2% of pts became seizure-free with the first-ever antiepileptic drug, with most pts at a moderate dose. Tolerability was as important as efficacy in determining overall effectiveness.

Methods

Retrospective study of 520 pediatric pts for interaction among efficacy, tolerability, and overall effectiveness of the first antiepileptic drug in children with newly diagnosed epilepsy

Results

Seizure-free status for 344 pts with the first prescribed antiepileptic drug
Fewer seizure-free cases for pts with symptomatic epilepsy (60.3%) or cryptogenic epilepsy (61.5%) vs with idiopathic epilepsy (73.8%)
More pts with symptomatic or cryptogenic epilepsy changed treatments due to intolerable side effects
Most patients (95.6%) received sodium valproate (234), topiramate (143), or carbamazepine (120)
Most seizure-free pts required only a moderate daily dose
Higher incidence of adverse events, necessitating treatment change, for carbamazepine (16.7%) or topiramate (11.9%) pts vs valproate (4.3%) pts
Fewer of carbamazepine and topiramate pts became seizure-free

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