effects of antiepileptic drugs on electroencephalographic findings in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy

how to cite this article: asadi-pooya aa, emami m. effects of antiepileptic drugs on electroencephalographic findings inpatients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. iranian journal of child neurology 2011;5(4):33-36. objective several antiepileptic drugs (aeds) such as phenobarbital (pb), carbamazepine (cbz), and valproate (vpa) may suppress interictal epileptiform activity. we investigated the effects of aeds on electroencephalography (eeg) data from patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (ige). materials & methods in this cross-sectional study, all patients electroclinically diagnosed with ige were recruited in the outpatient epilepsy clinic at shiraz university of medical sciences from september 2008 through august 2010. a routine eeg was requested at the time of referral for all patients. statistical analyses were performed using chi square and fisher’s exact test. results this study comprised of 336 patients. for about 20.8% (70 patients) of them, the initial eeg appeared normal. the first eeg was normal in 14.2% of the patients who had newly diagnosed ige (19 patients). normal eeg was also detected for 27.6% of the patients who received vpa monotherapy (16 patients), 31% of the patients who received cbz monotherapy (9 patients), 29.4% of the patients who received pb monotherapy (5 patients), and 11.1% of the patients who received lamotrigine (ltg) (1 patient). conclusion this study shows that compared to ltg, vpa suppresses generalized interictal epileptiform activity in patients with ige more effectively. theoretically, if a drug can frequently induce normalization of eeg, then it may be a better drug for treating iges. references 1. betting le, mory sb, lopes cendes i, li lm, guerreiromm, guerreiro cam, et al. eeg features in idiopathic generalized epilepsy: clues to diagnosis. epilepsia.2006;47(3):523-8. 2. libenson mh, caravale b. do antiepileptic drugs differin suppressing interictal epileptiform activity in children? pediatr neurol 2001;24(3):214-8. 3. pro s, vicenzini e, pulitano p, li voti p, zarabla a, randi f, et al. effects of levetiracetam on generalized discharges monitored with ambulatory eeg in epileptic patients. seizure 2009;18(2):133-8. 4. rocamora r, wagner k, schulze - bonhage a. levetiracetam reduces frequency and duration ofepileptic activity in patients with refractory primarygeneralized epilepsy. seizure 2006;15(6):428-33. 5. szaflarski jp. effects of zonisamide on  the electroencephalogram of a patient with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. epilepsy behav 2004;5(6):1024 -6. 6. covanis a. photo sensitivity in idiopathic generalized epilepsies. epilepsia 2005;46(suppl 9):67-72. 7. asadi-pooya aa, sperling m. antiepileptic drugs: aclinician’s manual. oxford university press, usa; 2009.