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Switching antiepileptic drugs to once‐daily dosing regimens in epilepsy patients
Author(s) -
Kim Sung Hyun,
Lee Hyemi,
Kim Dong Wook
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/ane.13333
Subject(s) - dosing , medicine , epilepsy , antiepileptic drug , drug , anesthesia , adverse effect , retrospective cohort study , pharmacology , psychiatry
Background Antiepileptic drug (AED) non‐adherence is an important factor contributing to poor seizure control in patients with epilepsy. Aim The aim of this study is to investigate seizure improvement after switching AEDs to once‐daily dosing regimens in patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy related to AED non‐adherence. Methods We performed a 10‐year retrospective analysis of drug‐resistant epilepsy patients whom AED non‐adherence attributed to drug resistance and switched AEDs to once‐daily dosing regimens. Successful switching was defined by at least 70% reduction in seizure frequency without troublesome adverse events. Results Among 401 patients with drug‐resistant epilepsy, 88 patients with AED non‐adherence were switched to once‐daily dosing regimens. Forty‐six patients (52.3%) experienced successful seizure control following the switch. A higher chance of successful switch was found in patients without MRI abnormality (16/46 vs. 24/42; P = .04) and in patients who were switched to extended‐release formulations or different AEDs with longer half‐lives (33/46 vs. 19/42; P = .02). Conclusions Our study shows that switching AEDs to once‐daily dosing regimens was an effective therapeutic option in patients with poor seizure control related to AED non‐adherence. Treatment with extended‐release formulations or drugs with longer half‐lives should be considered in these patients.