ABSTRACT
Clinical characteristics and cognitive functions have been studied during the examination and treatment of 132 patients with epilepsy. It has been shown that both the epileptic process by itself and the antiepileptic therapy are predictors of the memory-intellectual impairment. The key risk factors of cognitive impairment are the younger age of patients at the onset of seizures, the higher frequency of seizures and the secondary generalization. We found the effect of left-sided motor asymmetry on the intellectual impairment that was more pronounced in men. The left-sided profile of brain asymmetry is an unfavorable prognostic factor of the disease development.
Subject(s)
Cognition Disorders/etiology , Cognition Disorders/physiopathology , Epilepsy/complications , Epilepsy/psychology , Memory Disorders/physiopathology , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Anticonvulsants/therapeutic use , Brain/physiopathology , Cognition , Epilepsy/drug therapy , Female , Humans , Male , Memory , Memory Disorders/etiology , Middle Aged , Young AdultABSTRACT
An aim of the study was to compare the spectrum of effects of oxcarbazepine and carbamazepine in patients with partial temporal epilepsy. Seventy-two patients (24 men and 48 women) diagnosed with cryptogenic partial epilepsy have been examined. Fifty-one patients received carbamazepine as a monotherapy in dosage 300-1200 mg/day, 21 patients were treated with oxcarbazepine in dosage 600-1500 mg daily. The results revealed the similar effects of two drugs. However some differences were also found: the effect of oxcarbazepine on complex partial seizures was more pronounced comparing to carbamazepine. These differences became evident after the first month of therapy and were related only with part of the reduction of complex partial seizures after 1, 2, and 3 month of therapy. The highest levels of significance for these differences for the complete reduction of complex partial seizures (a control over seizures) were observed after 2 and 3 months of therapy. During the therapy, oxcarbazepine was more effective than carbamazepine in the reduction of refractory complex partial seizures. In conclusion, oxcarbazepine can be considered as a drug of choice in the treatment of complex partial seizures in patients with partial epilepsy.
