The first comprehensive comparative effectiveness clinical trial of three widely used anti-seizure drugs for childhood absence epilepsy ? the most common form of epilepsy in kids ? has established an evidence-based approach for initial drug therapy.
The research, which identifies important differences between drugs in seizure control and side effects, is expected to impact how physicians select and monitor initial therapy for children with the disorder and ultimately lead to improved outcomes.
The new study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The double-blind, randomized, comparative clinical trial would fill a large information gap in the treatment of childhood absence epilepsy, also known as petit mal epilepsy.
“Involving 453 children, 32 U.S. medical centers and the National Institutes of Health, this landmark study establishes clinically important differences between the three medications most commonly used as initial therapy for childhood absence epilepsy,” said Tracy A. Glauser, M.D., the study’s lead investigator and director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
Although childhood absence epilepsy is common, the comparative efficacy and tolerability of initial therapy with ethosuximide, valproic acid or lamotrigine had not been comprehensively or rigorously assessed in patients until the