Is the mechanism of action of antiseizure drugs a key element in the choice of treatment?
Déborah Guery, Sylvain Rheims
Abstract
About 25 antiseizure drugs are available for the treatment of patients with epilepsy. The choice of the most suited drug for a specific patient is primarily based on the results of the pivotal randomized clinical trials and on the patient's characteristics and comorbidities. Whether or not the mechanism of action of the antiseizure drugs should be also taken into account to better predict the patient's response to the treatment remains a matter of debate. Despite the apparent complexity and diversity of antiseizure drug mechanisms of action, the reality unfortunately remains that they are very close, in particular with regard to their relationship with the pathophysiology of epilepsy. With the only exception of the association between lamotrigine and sodium valproate, there are no clinical data that formally support a synergistic association between certain antiseizure drugs in terms of efficacy. However, anticipating risk of adverse events by limiting as far as possible the combination of drugs, which share the same mechanisms of action, is undoubtedly an important driver of daily therapeutic decisions.