Anticonvulsants are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. The goal of an anticonvulsant is to suppress the rapid and excessive firing of neurons that start a seizure. The use of current antiepileptic drugs has been questioned due to the non selectivity of the drugs and the undesirable side effects posed by them. The search for antiepileptic compounds wi...

After the introduction of valproate in 1973, excluding benzodiazepines, there was a 19 year gap before the introduction of vigabatrin, the first in a series of new antiepileptic drugs to be developed and licensed. At the time of writing gabapentin, lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, tiagabine, and topiramate have a licence in the United Kingdom. Zonisamide and levetiracetam are licensed in some countr...

OBJECTIVE Systematic review and meta-analysis of the most frequent treatment-emergent central nervous system adverse events (CNS AEs) of new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) from double-blind, add-on, placebo-controlled studies conducted in adult epileptic patients and identification of dose-adverse effect relationships. METHODS Trial reports found by searching Medline and journals. Outcome was the...