Is primary prevention with antiepileptic drugs effective in brain tumors or brain metastases?
Patients with brain tumors primary or metastatic- have an increased risk of presenting seizures during the course of their disease. So, prophylactic antiepileptic drugs have been proposed. However, the effects of this intervention are not yet clear. To answer this question, we searched in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening multiple databases. We identified 12 systematic reviews including 80 studies overall. Twelve corresponded to randomized trials, but only two answered the question of interest. We extracted data, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE method. We concluded primary prevention with antiepileptic drugs might not reduce the risk of seizures, and it is associated to frequent adverse effects.
Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile. Email: jepena@uc.cl. Address: Facultad de Medicina Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Lira 63, Santiago Centro, Chile.
Diego
D
Lobos-Urbina
Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile.
Lucas
L
Kittsteiner-Manubens
Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile; Departamento Hemato-Oncología, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Centro de Cáncer Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza, Red de Salud UC-Christus, Santiago, Chile.
José
J
Peña
D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000927:Anticonvulsants