Abstract
About 20-40% of patients with epilepsy will be refractory to medical treatment with antiepileptic drugs. It is unclear whether patients are already drug-resistant at the time of their initial presentation, or whether they become so over the course of their illness. Identifying predictors for drug-refractory epilepsy may be important for directing epilepsy patients to an effective nonpharmacological treatment, such as surgery or the vagus nerve stimulator, in a timely manner. In addition, understanding the factors that lead to the drug-refractory state may facilitate the development of new therapies that are effective in the resistant subgroup. This paper identifies various predictors that have been associated with drug-refractory epilepsy, discusses the evidence behind each factor and recommends strategies for clarifying predictors of refractoriness.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 127-131 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Expert review of neurotherapeutics |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2003 |
Keywords
- Antiepileptic drug therapy
- Genetic factors
- Genetic polymorphism
- Multiple drug resistance gene
- Pharmacoresistance
- Refractory epilepsy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Neuroscience
- Clinical Neurology
- Pharmacology (medical)