Refractory epilepsy: mechanisms and solutions.

Abstract

Pharmacoresistance remains a major challenge in epilepsy management. The availability of ten new antiepileptic drugs since the late 1980s has not dramatically improved the outcome of refractory epilepsy. This article provides an overview of the contemporary understanding of epilepsy and the limitation of current treatment modalities, discusses putative biological mechanisms of medical intractability and reviews some of the novel strategies under investigation to overcome the challenge of pharmacoresistance.

• Authors: Patrick Kwan, Martin J Brodie
• Journal: Expert review of neurotherapeutics (Expert Rev Neurother) Vol. 6 Issue 3 Pg. 397-406 (Mar 2006) ISSN: 1744-8360 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 16533143 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Anticonvulsants

Topics

• Anticonvulsants (administration & dosage)
• Drug Delivery Systems (methods)
• Drug Resistance, Multiple
• Electric Stimulation Therapy (methods)
• Epilepsy (drug therapy, genetics, metabolism, therapy)
• Genetic Therapy (methods)
• Humans