Discontinuation of antiepileptic drug in childhood epilepsy: evaluation of the differences between epileptic syndromes.

Abstract

The central nervous system (CNS) is confirmed to show an abrupt and continuous development with age in childhood. Because many epilepsies in childhood develop during this CNS maturation and have the age-dependent onset and clinical course6 15, they are regarded as one of the developmental disorders. Therefore, we should consider the factor relating with age for the management of childhood epilepsies. The seizure prognosis is generally favorable in childhood epilepsies compared with those in adulthood.'0-'2 Particularly most of the patients (over 90%) with both idiopathic partial and generalized epilepsies are reported to experience the long-term seizure free state under the adequate AED therapy. In modem medicine, the diagnosis of epilepsies and selection of AEDs for each seizure type, which may produce the favorable prognosis of epilepsy, are well established, but the withdrawal and discontinuation of AEDs are still disputed as to the indications and times. Since over 10 years, we positively practiced the discontinuation of AED therapy in the pa-