[Pharmacological treatment of epilepsies: progress during the last 10 years]

The pharmacological treatment of epilepsies represents an important domain of neurological therapeutical strategies and is not only important for specialized epilepsy centres, but for all hospital -and office-based neurologists. The choice of the right anticonvulsive drug is not always simple since the development of new drugs during the last 10 years offers a broad range of possibilities. Therefore, pharmacological treatment has become more sophisticated than it was with relatively few anticonvulsive drugs before. The new drugs are better tolerated and have less side effects, but more knowledge is required about the specific aspects of each drug. Pharmacology, pharmacocinetics, indication, dosage and side effects of the substances will be summarized and discussed.