Comparison of monotherapy effect of phenytoin, carbamazapine and valproic acid in pediatric general tonic clonic and partial epilepsy
Abstract
Background Problems on epilepsy do not only depend on thedisease itself but also on management and drug regimens. Drug
selection is very important to yield optimal treatment effect and
to prevent side effects due to long-term therapy.
Objective To determine whether there are any different effects
of monotherapy of phenytoin, carbamazapine, and valproic acid
on pediatric general tonic clonic and partial epilepsy.
Methods We conducted a historical cohort study on one month
until 18-years old children diagnosed as general tonic clonic or
parsial epilepsy treated with phenytoin, carbamazapine, or valproic
acid routinely for more than two years in Sardjito Hospital from
January 2000 until May 2007. The sample size of each group was
41. The main outcome was the time of 12-month remission,
whereas the secondary outcomes were withdrawal from treatment,
time to remission, side effects and cure rates.
Results Valproic acid increased the possibility to achieve 12-month
remission (RR 2.66; 95%CI 1.06;6.65) compared to phenytoin,
whereas carbamazapine did not (RR 1.47; 95%CI 0.66;3.28).
Survival analysis showed that valproic acid was better than
carbamazapine (P=0.042) and phenytoin (P=0.007). There were
no significant differences among groups in the result of withdrawal
from treatment, time to remission, and cure variables. The side
effects of valproic acid seemed less than those of others.
Conclusions Valproic acid increases the possibility of 12-month
remission compared to carbamazapine and phenytoin as
monotherapy in pediatric general tonic clonic and partial epilepsy
without increasing side effects. Carbamazapine has similar effects
of therapy to phenytoin.
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Accepted 2016-09-05
Published 2008-02-29