Prospective research on the efficacy and safety of oxcarbazepine as monotherapy and add-on therapy for partial epilepsy

Abstract

The purpose of our research was to evaluate the efficacy, tolerance, and safety of oxcarbazepine (OXC) as monotherapy and add-on therapy for partial epilepsy. We carried out a prospective clinical follow-up trial at the Epilepsy Center of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Sixty-seven patients with partial epilepsy received OXC therapy. The patients were randomly divided into a monotherapy group and an add-on therapy group. We observed the efficacy and safety in the first three months and the following three months respectively, and compared them with each other. There was a significant difference in the decrease of seizure frequency between the two groups (P = 0.002). There was a significant difference in the percentage of seizure-free between the monotherapy and the add-on therapy groups in the first three months (P = 0.02), and there were also statistical differences in the 50% response rate (P = 0.017) and the percentage of seizure-free in the following three months (P = 0.019). No difference was found in the 50% response rate, the 75% response rate, and the percentage of seizure-free between the first three months and the following three months in the whole group and the two subgroups (P > 0.05). The incidence rate of side effects due to the therapy was 19.40% (13 of 67). The side effects were mainly found in the first three months. It is concluded that OXC is the first-line anti-epileptic drug (AED) for partial seizures, and could be used as the monotherapy and add-on therapy for newly diagnosed patients and patients that failed to tolerate or benefit from other AEDs.