Abstract:

This study was conducted at Department of Psychiatry, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad. The aim of our study was to determine the efficacy and safety of Eslicarbazepine Acetate, observe its well-tolerated use and monitor adverse effects in newly diagnosed patients of focal epilepsy. A total of 30 newly diagnosed cases of focal epilepsy between 18-60 years, were studied for 6 months, using a semi-structured interview and Liverpool Adverse Events Profile. Majority of patients were males (58%), between 21-30 years. Patients with partial/focal seizures (63%) were more common than those of generalized seizures (37%).Majority of the participants had 1-2 episodes of focal seizures weekly (48%), while some had almost daily (32%). Majority were on Eslicarbazepine Acetate 800mg in two divided doses daily (64%), while the others received 1200 mg in divided doses (32%). The mean Liverpool Adverse Events Profile score initially was 28.34 ± 6.28 which significantly improved after 4 weeks treatment to 22.80 ± 4.35 (p < 0.05). The improvement in newly diagnosed focal seizures patients was significantly more than other patients (p < 0.05).No major side effects were observed.Therefore, better results of this drug are found in newly diagnosed focal epilepsy patients.

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