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Epilepsy in children: the evidence for new antiepileptic drugs
Author(s) -
Verdru P.
Publication year - 2005
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/j.1600-0404.2005.00503.x
Subject(s) - oxcarbazepine , lamotrigine , levetiracetam , topiramate , gabapentin , medicine , epilepsy , pediatrics , neurology , population , refractory (planetary science) , adjunctive treatment , perampanel , psychiatry , carbamazepine , alternative medicine , environmental health , pathology , physics , astrobiology
Childhood epilepsy remains a challenge to treat. Despite the availability of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), >25% of children with childhood epilepsy continue to have seizures. Conventional AEDs have been the mainstay of therapy for many years but are often poorly tolerated and have a tendency to interact with other drugs. Current American Academy of Neurology guidelines support the use of four of the newer AEDs (gabapentin, lamotrigine, topiramate, and oxcarbazepine) as adjunctive treatment of refractory partial seizures in children, based on class I evidence. This paper includes a summary of the results from a recent randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study, which shows that levetiracetam is also effective and well tolerated in this pediatric population, and provides evidence supporting its use in refractory partial seizures in children.