There are as yet no data pointing to any increase in the incidence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) or a more severe course of illness in patients with epilepsy. However, considering the high prevalence of epilepsy in patients over 60 years of age, the high comorbidity of epilepsy and a whole series of somatic diseases, and the need to maintain the opportunity for constant access to antiepileptic medications and follow-up of epilepsy patients, we can expect a whole set of difficulties in the management of these patients in the conditions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article addresses the main principles of the management of epilepsy patients in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic: the need to follow regimes; preservation of regular and continuous taking of antiepileptic drugs, including consideration of interdrug interactions; and switching patients to i.v. forms of antiepileptic drugs where necessary.
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Translated from Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii imeni S. S. Korsakova, Vol. 120, No. 10, Iss. 1, pp. 100–107, October, 2020.
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Rider, F.K., Lebedeva, A.V., Mkrtchyan, V.R. et al. Epilepsy and COVID-19: Management of Patients and Optimization of Antiepileptic Treatment in the Pandemic. Neurosci Behav Physi 51, 843–849 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-021-01142-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-021-01142-x