Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Practice Point
  • Published:

Withdrawing antiepileptic drugs in seizure-free patients: what are the cognitive benefits?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Ortinski P and Meador KJ (2004) Cognitive side effects of antiepileptic drugs. Epilepsy Behav 5 (Suppl 1): S60–S65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Cochrane HC et al. (1998) Neuropsychological outcomes in randomized controlled trials of antiepileptic drugs: a systematic review of methodology and reporting standards. Epilepsia 30: 1088–1097

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chadwick D and Privitera M (2006) How skeptical should we be about industry-sponsored studies? Neurology 67: 378–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sillanpaa A and Schmidt D (2006) Prognosis of seizure recurrence after stopping antiepileptic drugs in seizure-free patients: a long-term population based study of childhood-onset epilepsy. Epilepsy Behav 8: 713–719

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Specchio LM and Beghi E (2004) Should antiepileptic drugs be withdrawn in seizure-free patients? Drugs 18: 201–212

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The synopsis was written by Martina Habeck, Associate Editor, Nature Clinical Practice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author has received speaker’s or consultancy fees and/or research grants from the manufacturers of carbamazepine and oxcarbazepine (Novartis), gabapentin, phenytoin and pregabalin (Pfizer), lamotrigine (GSK), levetiracetam (UCB Pharma), tiagabine, valproic acid and vigabatrin (sanovi-aventis), topiramate (Johnson & Johnson) and zonisamide (Eisai).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Perucca, E. Withdrawing antiepileptic drugs in seizure-free patients: what are the cognitive benefits?. Nat Rev Neurol 3, 194–195 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro0449

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpneuro0449

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing