Approval of several antiepileptic drugs since 1993 has implications for primary care physicians who are treating epileptic patients. How do these new agents differ from standard therapy? What advantages do they offer? The authors of this article take a comprehensive look at five new agents--felbamate, fosphenytoin, gabapentin, lamotrigine, and topiramate.
For the past several decades, seizures and epilepsy (the condition of recurrent seizures) have been treated with only a handful of drugs. Phenytoin (Dilantin), carbamazepine (Tegretol), valproic acid (Depakene, Depakote), primidone (Mysoline), phenobarbital (Luminal Sodium, Solfoton), and ethosuximide (Zarontin) have been the mainstays in management of both acute and chronic seizures. Since 1993, however, several novel antiepileptic drugs have been introduced. These drugs were developed in an attempt to overcome the limitations of traditional therapy.
NEW ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS: Overcoming the limitations of traditional therapy (Postgraduate Medicine)
Tags: primary care physicians, look, seizures and epilepsy, new antiepileptic drugs, article
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