INTRODUCTION Valproic acid is an effective first line drug for the treatment of epilepsy. Hepatotoxicity is a rare and potentially fatal adverse reaction for this medicine. OBJECTIVE Firstly to characterise valproic acid reports on children with fatal outcome and secondly to determine reporting over time of hepatotoxicity with fatal outcome. METHODS Individual case safety reports (ICSRs) fo...

The chapter summarizes literature on the teratogenic effects of anticonvulsants and presents data from the Swedish Medical Birth Register. Many anticonvulsants have a teratogenic effect which varies between individual drugs with the highest risk associated with the use of valproic acid and probably topiramide. For some much used drugs like carbamazepine and lamotrigine the risk is not much elev...

Background The studies concerning prophylactic treatment in bipolar disorder suggest it should be introduced after the first manic episode [1]. Also early polytherapy is promoted, mainly mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Antipsychotics are recommended in short-term use [2], but they are also used after improvement. Typical antipsychotics are effective in monotherapy in 70% of patients, like ...

We report two patients with epilepsy with pseudoseizures at age 6 years. Both presented with intractable staring spells. Pseudoseizures were provoked and aborted by suggestion, leading to the diagnosis. In both patients, evidence of a neuropsychological disturbance was later found and psychotherapy started. Monitoring of intractable staring episodes is recommended prior to escalating antiepilep...