Is it possible to predict the treatment efficacy in adult patients with focal epilepsy?

Abstract

The aim was to determine the factors impacting the treatment efficacy in patients with focal epilepsy. Materials and methods . This was a prospective, comparative, observational study conducted in real clinical practice. We adhered to the following inclusion criteria: age over 18 years; history of two or more epileptic seizures with the focal onset; the presence of epileptic seizures at the time of the initial examination. The exclusion criteria were the history of nonepileptic seizures of any etiology and the inability to perform MRI and/or EEG. The primary and the follow-up examinations were separated by 3-12 months. Eighty three patients with focal epilepsy who met the inclusion criteria (37 men and 46 women aged 19 to 70 years) were examined. The examination included history taking, analysis of the seizure diary, clinical and neurological examination, routine EEG and/or EEG-video monitoring, brain MRI, laboratory tests. Therapy with antiepileptic drugs was maintained throughout the study period. All patients were followed-up for at least 1 year. Results . Cessation of seizures was observed in 36.2% of patients and a >50% reduction in seizure frequency – in 32.5% of patients. The occurrence of side effects of antiepileptic drugs decreased from 56.6% to 26.5%. Conclusion . The introduction into clinical practice of methods for assessing the factors impacting the treatment outcome in patients with focal epilepsy will allow for monitoring of the treatment efficacy and improve the patient quality of life. The authors declare the absence of conflict of interest with respect to this publication. All authors contributed equally to this article.