Oxcarbazepine monotherapy in children and adolescents: A single-center clinical experience

This single-center analysis evaluated the efficacy of oxcarbazepine monotherapy in children and adolescents. A retrospective chart review identified 60 patients (male = 33, female = 27) aged 6 months to 17.8 years (mean age 8.2 +/- 4.7 years) with partial onset epilepsy receiving oxcarbazepine monotherapy. The range of oxcarbazepine dose was 6-71 mg/kg/day (mean 26.3 +/- 11.4 mg/kg/day). The duration of therapy ranged from 3 months to 8 years (mean duration 16.7 +/- 14.3 months). Fifty-one patients (85%) achieved >= 50% reduction in seizure frequency, and 25 of 60 patients (42%) achieved seizure freedom. Ten patients (16.67%) reported adverse events including drowsiness, aggressive behavior, ataxia, dizziness, diplopia, and leg cramps. No hyponatremia or skin rash was observed. Twenty-four patients were switched from carbamazepine to oxcarbazepine monotherapy. In these patients carbamazepine was discontinued because of incidence of adverse events, poor seizure control, or both. Seventy-nine percent of patients switched from carbamazepine to oxcarbazepine monotherapy had >= 50% reduction in seizure frequency, and 37.5% became seizure-free. These findings suggest that oxcarbazepine monotherapy is effective and well tolerated in children and adolescents with partial epilepsy. (c) 2006 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.