A number of clinical trials that test the efficacy and safety of the newer
antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have recently been concluded. Two dose-response trials in inpatients with refractory
partial seizures and outpatients with newly diagnosed
partial epilepsy established the efficacy of
gabapentin as monotherapy.
Lamotrigine was found to have efficacy similar to that of
phenytoin and
carbamazepine (CBZ) and to be better tolerated than CBZ in patients with newly diagnosed
epilepsy. It was also shown to have efficacy as monotherapy in
partial seizures, based on the results of an active controlled trial, and in the treatment of absence
seizures, based on the results of a responder-enriched study.
Topiramate as monotherapy was found to be efficacious for treatment of partial-onset
seizures, based on the results of a single-center dose-response trial. A dose-response trial that tested the efficacy of
tiagabine monotherapy in patients with refractory
partial epilepsy was uninformative.
Oxcarbazepine was found to be safe and efficacious in four comparative trials in patients with newly diagnosed
epilepsy as well as in one placebo-controlled inpatient trial in patients with refractory
partial seizures.