Efficacy and safety of sodium valproate in a higher dose for treating nocturnal and early-morning seizures

Abstract

Objective To explore the efficacy and safety of sodium valproate in a higher dose in the evening for treating nocturnal and early-morning seizures. Methods A total of 69 newly diagnosed pediatric patients with nocturnal or early-morning seizures were enrolled.They were randomly distributed into experimental group (35 cases) and control group (34 cases) and treated with sodium valproate tablets.The initial dose was little.It was gradually increased to the effective maintenance dose.With sodium valproate given twice a day, the post meridiem(PM) dose was twice the ante meridiem(AM) dose in the experimental group, while the PM/AM dose was equal in the control group.All patients were at least been followed up for 6 months. Results In the experimental group, 28 cases were seizure free (80.0%), and the total effective rate was 85.7%.In the control group, 20 cases were seizure free (58.8%), and the total effective rate was 64.7%.The difference in the total effective rate between the 2 groups was significant (P<0.05). No severe adverse effect was found among all patients.The incidence of daytime sleepiness (0/35 cases) in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group(2/34 cases). Conclusions A higher dose of sodium valproate in the evening for nocturnal and early-morning seizures led to better seizure control, better nocturnal sleep, less daytime somnolence, and the side effects are slight. Key words: Epilepsy; Treatment; Clinical random parallel control study; Child