EEG EFFICACY OF SOME NEWER-GENERATION ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS IN BULGARIAN PATIENTS WITH REFRACTORY EPILEPSY
*Ekaterina Viteva and Zahari Zahariev
ABSTRACT
Objectives: To perform an open, prospective study on EEG efficacy of some newer-generation antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) as add-on therapy in Bulgarian patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Methods: The study was performed with the participation of 1259 patients with epilepsy who attended the Clinic of Neurology at the University Hospital in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, for regular visits and completed diaries about seizure frequency, severity, and adverse events. EEG was performed at all visits. Results: Oxcarbazepine was used in 82 patients, topiramate - in 120 patients, lamotrigine – in 73 patients, levetiracetam – in 135 patients, pregabalin - in 47 patients, tiagabine – in 43 patients, gabapentin – in 18 patients, lacosamide – in 12 patients, retigabine – in 6 patients. We found EEG improvement in a small percentage of patients on treatment with most newer-generation AEDs. It correlated with male gender (oxcarbazepine), seizure severity reduction (oxcarbazepine, levetiracetam, tiagabine), seizure frequency reduction (levetiracetam, tiagabine) and initial epileptiform findings (topiramate, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, tiagabine). Conclusion: Most newer-generation AEDs have similar electrophysiological efficacy in a limited percentage of patients which may correlate with initial EEG findings, seizure frequency and severity dynamics, gender, and dose. Further larger comparative studies are needed to determine the impact of newer-generation AEDs on EEG.
Keywords: newer-generation; antiepileptic drugs; epilepsy; EEG; efficacy
[Full Text Article]
[Download Certificate]