my personal edition > epilepsy > news


  E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

DGDispatch

Oxcarbazepine Monotherapy May Be Effective for Patients With Uncontrolled Partial Seizures: Presented at AES

By Bonnie Darves

BOSTON, MA -- December 15, 2003 -- Patients who have breakthrough partial seizures while taking standard antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) or who are taking several medications to control their seizures might benefit from a switch to oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) monotherapy, researchers have found.

The results of a study involving 245 patients -- including children -- who were switched to oxcarbazepine from carbamazepine or another AED, were presented here December 9^th at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting.

"[Oxcarbazepine] might be a good option for patients who are still having partial seizures after [taking] other AEDs or are experiencing intolerable side effects on their current medication," said lead author Rajesh Sachdeo, MD, Director, New Jersey Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and Department of Neurology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States.

The drug, approved in the U.S. in August 2003 for use in paediatric epilepsy patients, has a good overall side effect profile, he said, but added that patients who are allergic to carbamazepine might also be allergic to oxcarbazepine. Some patients on the drug also develop hyponatremia.

In the multicentre, open-label study, 49% of 176 patients whose data were analysed were switched from carbamazepine; the remaining 51% were switched from other AEDs. The mean dose was 1,350 mg/day. The drug dosage was titrated upward over a 4-week period while patients tapered off other AEDs.

Oxcarbazepine efficacy in seizure control was similar in all patients, regardless of their prior AED. In the carbamazepine-switched group, 53% of patients had a 50% reduction in seizure frequency; those switched from other AEDs had a 57% reduction.

The most common adverse events were dizziness, headache and nausea, which affected 33%, 17% and 18% of patients, respectively. In all, 17% of subjects withdrew from the study because of adverse events -- and most withdrew during the titration period, Sachdeo noted.

The study was supported by Novartis.


[Study title: Oxcarbazepine Is Efficacious in Patients With Partial Seizures When Switching From Carbamazepine or Another AED. Abstract 2.277]

E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

To print, use this version