Oxcarbazepine in the treatment of childhood epilepsy

• Published in: Pediatric neurology Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 37 - 41
• Main Authors: Serdaroglu, Gul, Kurul, Semra, Tutuncuoglu, Sarenur, Dirik, Eray, Sarioglu, Berrak
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Analgesics; Anticonvulsants - administration & dosage; Anticonvulsants - adverse effects; Biological and medical sciences; Carbamazepine - administration & dosage; Carbamazepine - adverse effects; Carbamazepine - analogs & derivatives; Child; Child, Preschool; Disease-Free Survival; Epilepsies, Partial - drug therapy; Epilepsy, Generalized - drug therapy; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Neuropharmacology; Oxcarbazepine; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Treatment Outcome; Tropical medicine; Human; Nervous system diseases; Indication; Toxicity; Epilepsy; Oral administration; Anticonvulsant; Generalized; Cerebral disorder; Oxcarbazepine; Increasing dose; Chemotherapy; Treatment; Partial; Central nervous system disease; Child
• ISSN: 0887-8994; 1873-5150
• DOI: 10.1016/S0887-8994(02)00467-8

In this study, oxcarbazepine was began as monotherapy to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug. Forty-two patients (19 females, 23 males) with partial or generalized epilepsy more than 4 years of age were included (mean age, 11.9 ± 3.4 years). The mean age at epilepsy onset 8.9 ± 4 years. Complete blood count, liver function tests, electrolytes, lipid levels, electrocardiography, electroencephalography, and magnetic resonance imaging were performed in all patients. Oxcarbazepine dose was begun at 10 mg/kg/day twice daily and increased to 30 mg/kg/day at the end of the second week. Patients with inadequate seizure control even with the dose of 45 mg/kg/day or intolerable side effects were excluded. Intolerable headache and leukopenia led to discontinuation of the drug in two patients. At the sixth month, 35 of the patients (87.5%) were seizure free (91.7% of the generalized epilepsy patients and 81.2% of the partial epilepsy patients). The most frequent tolerable side effect was drowsiness in 12 patients. As a result, we found oxcarbazepine safe and effective in children with either generalized or partial epilepsy.