Introduction
Over the past 20 years, 12 new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have been licensed worldwide with a 13th, stiripentol, being recently made available for the treatment of Dravet’s syndrome in Europe under the orphan drugs scheme. If the most commonly used established AEDs are added to this there would be a therapeutic armamentarium greatly exceeding 20 therapeutic agents (Shorvon 2009a, b). Their pharmacology is, of course, highly relevant to their clinical usage. Traditionally this is divided into pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic properties. The latter can be regarded as what the drug does to the patient and the former as what the patient does to the drug. In addition to phenytoin, fosphenytoin, phenobarbital, and the benzodiazepines (clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam, midazolam), sodium valproate, levetiracetam, and lacosamide are also available in a liquid formulation suitable for intravenous administration.
Pharmacokinetic Properties
Pharmacokinetics is the mathematical...
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Brodie, M.J., Kwan, P. (2010). Pharmacological Properties of Antiepileptic Drugs and Their Significance in Clinical Practice. In: Panayiotopoulos, C.P. (eds) Atlas of Epilepsies. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-128-6_214
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-128-6_214
Publisher Name: Springer, London
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