title: Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: to treat or not to treat.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefits and risks of oxcarbazepine (OXC) monotherapy in children with newly diagnosed, benign partial epilepsy based on clinico-electrical and neuropsychological evaluation over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was open label, prospective, multicenter based. A total of 39 children with BRE were involved in the study. They were randomized into two groups (T; treatment with OXC, NT; No treatment) to compare the effectiveness of OXC treatment. All children underwent EEGs with quantification and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests at the first visit and follow up visit at 6 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The subjects made a slight progress in general intelligence measures over time in both groups (95.4±10.5 to 97.6±7.5 for T, 107.6±17.3 to 111.4±18.6 for NT). Memory and frontal executive functions did not change over time in both groups in terms of the memory quotient (MQ) (106.7±27.5 to 103.4± 19.3 for T, 105.8±13.2 to 104.9±17.2 for NT) and executive intelligence quotient (EIQ) (114.7±18.3 to 108.9±12.5 for T, 100.6±25.1 to 101.2±13.9 for NT). However, when sub-domain scores were compared between the two groups, the treatment group got significantly worse over time in the verbal fluency test (11.5±3.8 to 8.0±1.4 for T, 10.3±3.9 to 11.5±2.1 for NT; p<0.05) and level 1 of Stroop test (9.3±3.0 to 7.5±1.3 for T, 11.0±3.7 to 11.2±2.6 for NT; p<0.05). The subjects might have cognitive and behavioral difficulties in association with frontal lobe dysfunctions, but these difficulties did not seem to be dependent on the number of seizures, the abundance of subclinical epileptiform discharges, or the anti-epileptic treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We think that OXC monotherapy is effective for children with BRE, but is to be given to the selected patients such as patients with prolonged or frequent seizures. However, further studies are needed to have a better understanding in this matter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu;
authors.forename: Soonhak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital, Busan;
authors.forename: Tae Gyu
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Changwon;
authors.forename: Junhwa
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea.
authors.forename: Doo-Kwun
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Kyungpook National University School of Medicine, Daegu;
authors.forename: Hye-Eun
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Seo
keywords: Behavior; Child; Cognition Disorders; Epilepsies; Neuropsychological tests; Partial