Neurológia pre prax 3/2021

Novel approaches in pharmacological treatment of epilepsy

In adults, 70–80 % of patients with epilepsy can be seizure free with pharmacological treatment. Novel approaches have been adopted in treatment strategies, new drugs have been introduced to the market and individualized precision therapy with a use of „orphan drugs“ have been successfully used in few well characterized genetically determined epilepsies. In the treatment strategy, a short – and a long-term plan should be established to test systematically for the efficacy of different drugs. Buccal midazolam has been registered as a „rescue medication “. New drugs have been introduced recently for add-on therapy of focal seizures (perampanel, brivaracetam) or generalized tonic-clonic seizures (perampanel), some has been registered as an „orphan drug“(cannabidiol) for rare epilepsies, some has been registered (cenobamate) and their introduction to the market in the Czech Republic is expected in the future.

Keywords: epilepsy, seizure, treatment, antiepileptic drugs, antiseizure medication