Etiologic features and utilization of antiepileptic drugs in people with chronic epilepsy in China: Report from the Epilepsy Cohort of Huashan Hospital (ECoH).
OBJECTIVE
Chronic epilepsy is estimated to affect more than 2 million people in China. However, data of its clinical characteristics was rarely reported in China. In the present study, we summarized the etiologic features and utilization patterns of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in people with chronic epilepsy in a tertiary medical center in China.


METHODS
We prospectively recruited people with chronic epilepsy treated at the Epilepsy Outpatient Clinic of Huashan Hospital during October 2009 to August 2013. Demographic data, clinical characteristics, AED treatment, epilepsy-associated risk factors and medical history, and results of supplementary examinations of each participant were collected retrospectively via an interviewer-administered questionnaire and confirmed by the medical records.


RESULTS
Among 554 people with chronic epilepsy, 58.0% of them were male, 66.8% had focal seizure, and 29.2% had symptomatic cause. Developmental anomalies of cerebral structure (16.7%) and cerebral trauma (16.7%) shared the leading cause of symptomatic epilepsy among children with epilepsy. While cerebral trauma (29.1%) and cerebrovascular disorder (36.4%) were the most common causes in groups of adults and elderly. Fifty percent of participants were taking AED monotherapy. Proportions of people with idiopathic, cryptogenic and symptomatic epilepsy treated by multitherapy were 35%, 46% and 45.6%, respectively. Valproic acid (VPA) was the most frequently utilized AED as monotherapy (32.7%) and within multitherapy (62.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
This hospital-based study reported that etiologic features were diverse in different age groups of people with chronic epilepsy. VPA was widely utilized to treat chronic epilepsy in mainland China.
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: alexsitu@live.cn.
Yan
Y
Ge
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: tracypmyu@163.com.
Peimin
P
Yu
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: dding99@yahoo.com.
Ding
D
Ding
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: happyrain2@163.com.
Ping
P
Wang
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: ybs-whu@163.com.
Yunbo
Y
Shi
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: tingzhao.neu@gmail.com.
Ting
T
Zhao
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: tangxinghua@gmail.com.
Xinghua
X
Tang
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, #12 Wulumuqi Zhong Rd., Shanghai 200040, China. Electronic address: profzhong@sina.com.
Zhen
Z
Hong
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
D000927:Anticonvulsants
Antiepileptic drug; Chronic epilepsy; Etiology