title: Antiepileptic drug treatment: new drugs and new strategies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Selection of the ideal antiepileptic drug (AED) for an individual patient can be a daunting process. Choice of treatment should be based on several factors, including but not limited to epilepsy classification, AED mechanism of action, AED side-effect profile, and drug interactions. Special consideration must be given to populations such as women, older adults, patients with other medical comorbidities, and patients who are newly diagnosed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Head-to-head trials between AEDs in newly diagnosed patients rarely demonstrate that one AED is more or less effective. The second-generation drugs, lamotrigine, topiramate, oxcarbazepine, zonisamide, and levetiracetam, have undergone head-to-head trials confirming similar efficacy and equal or better tolerability than standard drugs in focal epilepsy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A thoughtful approach to the AED selection process must factor in data from clinical AED trials as well as a variety of patient characteristics and confounding factors. When neurologists apply an individualized approach to AED drug selection for their patients, they can find an effective and well-tolerated drug for most patients.
authors.affiliation: Jacqueline.french@nyumc.org
authors.forename: Jacqueline A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: French
authors.forename: Deana M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gazzola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants