title: Retention rate of oxcarbazepine monotherapy in an unselected population of adult epileptics.
abstract: In a retrospective study we assessed the outcome of oxcarbazepine (OXC) monotherapy in a naturalistic setting. We identified all adult patients who had been treated with OXC at a single neurological outpatient center. A total of 175 patients were identified, 97 of them used OXC as their first AED (Group I), and 78 as second monotherapy (Group II), after failure of a previous AED. The 1-year retention rates of OXC treatment were 91% for Group I and 77% for Group II. Discontinuations were due to adverse effects in 3 patients (3%) in Group I and in 11 patients (14%) in Group II, and due to lack of efficacy in 2 patients (2%) in Group I and in 6 patients (8%) in Group II. We conclude that OXC monotherapy is effective and well tolerated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, Tampere University Hospital, BOX 2000, FIN-33521 Tampere, Finland. sirpa.rainesalo@pshp.fi
authors.forename: Sirpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rainesalo
authors.forename: Jukka
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Peltola
authors.forename: Anssi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Auvinen
authors.forename: Tapani
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Keränen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000188:drug therapy; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000188:drug therapy; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000188:drug therapy; D005387:Finland; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D000078330:Oxcarbazepine; D010352:Patient Dropouts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D002220:Carbamazepine; D000078330:Oxcarbazepine