Review of Childhood Absence Epilepsy and Antiepileptic Medications

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.220504.406How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Epilepsy; Childhood Absence Epilepsy(CAE); Ethosuximide; Valproic Acid; Lamotrigine; Antiepileptic Drugs(AEDs)

Abstract

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that disrupts the function of the central nervous system. Childhood absence epilepsy (CAE) is a form of epilepsy that happens nearly exclusively in children aged 3 to 10. Ethosuximide, valproic acid, and lamotrigine are three antiepileptic medications traditionally used by clinicians to treat CAE. Historically, the syndrome has often been dismissed as “harmless” owing to a common “benign” long-term prognosis. Over recent years, the deceptively nonmalignant nature of CAE has been increasingly questioned and reviewed, specifically with respect to how various treatments impact the development and life quality of affected children. This article summarizes and reviews the effectiveness, weaknesses, and potential neurocognitive effects of the three drugs of choice for CAE management and treatment based on existing literature. Multiple studies have suggested that ethosuximide is the optimal initial empirical treatment, producing superior results to valproic acid and lamotrigine vis-a-vis efficacy and tolerability. That being said, valproic acid and lamotrigine are both effective anticonvulsants and are sometimes preferred over more appropriate choices on a case-by-case basis.

Copyright

© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yang Yang
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/06/01
TI  - Review of Childhood Absence Epilepsy and Antiepileptic Medications
BT  - Proceedings of the 2022 8th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 2243
EP  - 2247
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220504.406
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220504.406
ID  - Yang2022
ER  -