Developmental medicine and child neurology
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Dev Med Child Neurol · Feb 1995
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialA multicentre comparative trial of sodium valproate and carbamazepine in paediatric epilepsy. The Paediatric EPITEG Collaborative Group.
The long-term efficacy and adverse-event profiles of sodium valproate and carbamazepine in children with newly diagnosed primary generalised or partial epilepsy were compared at 63 outpatient clinics. Children with two or more generalised tonic-clonic or partial seizures in the previous six months were randomised to oral sodium valproate (N = 130) or oral carbamazepine (N = 130) and followed for three years as outpatients. ⋯ Adverse events were mostly mild, few necessitating drug withdrawal. Those particularly associated with valproate were weight increase, alopecia and appetite increase, and with carbamazepine, rashes, somnolence, diplopia and abnormal gait/ataxia.