INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITION West syndrome (WS) is a devastating form of epilepsy defined by a triad of infantile spasms, hypsarhythmia, and developmental regression (1,2). The clinical features…

      Valproic acid, or valproate (VPA), has been used in the treatment of epilepsy for more than 50 years (1). During this time, it became one of the…

      INTRODUCTION: SELF-LIMITED FOCAL EPILEPSIES OF CHILDHOOD The International League Against Epilepsy’s (ILAE’s) revised classification of seizures and epilepsies (1) argues against the older term benign because it…

      INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Early discussions on the classification of epilepsy have had a marked and lasting impact upon our current understanding of the disease, and might…

      CHEMISTRY, ANIMAL PHARMACOLOGY, AND MECHANISM OF ACTION Sulthiame (STM) is a sulfonamide derivate, N-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)-1,4-butansultam (Figure 63.1), a crystalline powder, with a molecular weight of 290 g/mol (1)….

      In the last few years, a new generation of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) has been developed (1,2), with much interest in drugs that work on the gamma-aminobutyric acid…

      In this chapter, we review two well-individualized early-onset myoclonic epilepsies included in the category of genetic generalized epilepsies in the 2010 International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) organization…

      INTRODUCTION Carbamazepine is one of the most frequently used antiepileptic medications, and is arguably supported by the best evidence base (1). It is highly effective for treatment…

      The electrical discharge of neurons associated with seizure activity stimulates a marked rise in cerebral metabolic activity. Estimates from animal experiments indicate that energy utilization during seizures…

      Pharmacokinetic interactions, sometimes leading to adverse clinical situations, have long been recognized as an occasionally unavoidable facet of antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment (1,2). Since the mid-1990s, there…