Antiepileptic drug withdrawal in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy undergoing presurgical video-EEG monitoring.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate antiepileptic drug (AED) withdrawal during video-EEG monitoring in adult patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).


METHODS
Between 1995 and 1997, 102 consecutive patients with refractory TLE were admitted to the epilepsy monitoring unit for presurgical evaluation. Patients were monitored with ongoing AEDs being rapidly decreased and discontinued in 4-6 days. The monitoring was continued until sufficient numbers of seizures were recorded. Serum AED levels were checked at admission and after the first complex partial seizure (CPS).


RESULTS
In all, 89 patients had 429 CPSs (mean, 4.8 per patient), including 156 (36.4%) secondarily generalized. A mean of 153.8 h (16-451 h) was required for completing the monitoring in each patient. Forty-three (48.3%) patients experienced seizure clusters, and eight (9.0%) had generalized seizures that had never occurred or had been absent for years. However, none evolved to status epilepticus. Carbamazepine was the most commonly used AED in 71.9% of patients, followed by valproate and phenytoin. When the first CPS occurred, mean 77.2 h since the beginning of the monitoring, serum levels of these three AEDs were mostly subtherapeutic rather than minimal.


CONCLUSIONS
Acute AED withdrawal effectively provoked seizures in TLE patients undergoing presurgical video-EEG monitoring. However, nearly 50% of patients had seizure clusters or secondarily generalized seizures. Serum AED levels were mostly subtherapeutic when the first CPS occurred.
Yen
D J
DJ
Department of Neurology, The Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 11217 (ROC). djyen@vghtpe.gov.tw
Chen
C
C
Shih
Y H
YH
Guo
Y C
YC
Liu
L T
LT
Yu
H Y
HY
Kwan
S Y
SY
Yiu
C H
CH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017029:Epilepsy, Complex Partial / Q000139:chemically induced*; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010672:Phenytoin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D014635:Valproic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000097:blood; D014743:Videotape Recording
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D002220:Carbamazepine; D014635:Valproic Acid; D010672:Phenytoin