Efficacy and safety of oral suspension of oxcarbazepine in children with epilepsy

E pilepsy is a frequent child pathology, 40% of all epileptic people are younger than 15 years of age.Specific problems such as selecting the appropriate antiepileptic drug can be faced in the treatment of epilepsy as epileptic syndromes occur in a broad spectrum in children, and various drugs have different pharmacokinetic profiles.Treatment must avoid frequent and long-lasting seizures, however, at the same time must spare cognitive development.New antiepileptic drugs seem to have more specialized indications, less side effects, and thus, represent a very interesting tool for the neuropediatrician. 1 Oxcarbazepine (OXC) is similar to carbamazepine (CBZ) in its mechanisms of action and antiepileptic efficacy, yet has better tolerability, and fewer interactions with other drugs.Although side effects of OXC such as gait instability, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, headache, ataxia, sedation, hyponatremia, skin rash, hypersensitivity reaction, and diplopia are similar to those of CBZ, they are less severe and rare.Oxcarbazepine has been reported to be beneficial in children in terms of seizure control and tolerability both as a monotherapy, and an add-on drug.2,3 In this study, we aimed to determine the efficacy and safety of oral suspension of OXC, in a group of pediatric patients who received this drug as mono/polytherapy.This study was conducted as an open-label, single-center, retrospective, chart review study on children with epilepsy.Thirty-four patients who were referred to the Pediatric Neurology Department, Izmir Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey between June 2004 and January 2007 were investigated following Institutional Ethical Committee approval.Inclusion criteria were age ≥1 year, diagnosis of generalized and partial epilepsy according to the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) 1998 classification, and ≥2 seizures in the previous month.A limitation of the study is that children who had myoclonic epilepsy and absence epilepsies, any of the contraindications for OXC administration.Age, gender, type of epilepsy, dose of OXC, other drugs used, side effects, number of seizures, follow-up period and response to treatment were recorded.Side effects were recorded on the standard checklist for side effects of antiepileptic drugs, while frequency and duration of seizures were recorded in an epilepsy diary.Records were controlled during each physical exam as a standard application, and these data were evaluated for assessing efficacy of therapy.To minimize its side effects, OXC treatment was initiated in a 10 mg/kg dose, which was