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Anticonvulsant Agents: Beginning, Maintenance, Pharmacoresistance, Duration of Therapy, and Withdrawal: Adults

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NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy

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Abstract

Epilepsy is a symptom-related epileptic seizure that has numerous causes. One speaks of epilepsy when two epileptic seizures follow each other outside of 24 h or when there is an increased probability of new seizures occurring. Pharmacological epilepsy treatment is seizure therapy that involves the use of medications called antiepileptic drugs (ASDs). When selecting the appropriate antiepileptic drug, a distinction is made between focal and generalized epilepsies in adults. If a patient is not seizure-free after taking two ASDs, he or she is considered pharmacoresistant. In this case, other therapeutic methods such as epilepsy surgery can be used if the patient is suitable.

The timing of discontinuation of ASD after several years of being seizure-free cannot be determined on the basis of evidence. Many patients whose epilepsy continues beyond the age of 18 need to take ADS for the rest of their lives.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beta Neurologie, Bonn, Germany

    Christian E. Elger & Monika Jeub

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  1. Christian E. Elger
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  2. Monika Jeub
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Correspondence to Christian E. Elger .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Psychiatry , Psychosomatics & Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Medical School Clinical Neurochemistry, Würzburg, Germany

    Peter Riederer

  2. Inst für Psychologische Medizin, Haag, Bayern, Germany

    Gerd Laux

  3. Fujita Health University School Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan

    Toshiharu Nagatsu

  4. Center Translational Res Neurol Diseases, Dalian Med Uni Shanghai Inst Health Sc Center Translational Res Neurol Diseases, Dalian, China

    Weidong Le

  5. Würzburg, Bayern, Germany

    Christian Riederer

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  1. Beta Neurologie, Bonn, Germany

    Christian E. Elger

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Elger, C.E., Jeub, M. (2022). Anticonvulsant Agents: Beginning, Maintenance, Pharmacoresistance, Duration of Therapy, and Withdrawal: Adults. In: Riederer, P., Laux, G., Nagatsu, T., Le, W., Riederer, C. (eds) NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_279-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_279-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56015-1

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