[Criteria for beginning and stopping antiepileptic drug therapy]

The question of when to begin and when to stop therapy with antiepileptic agents is one of the most widely discussed matters among specialists in epilepsy, due to the potential risks of such pharmacological therapy in the long term. In this paper we review the most suitable way of beginning the administration of antiepileptic drugs and the reasons behind such a decision, as well as examining the motives that can lead to their being withdrawn. We pay special attention to the treatment of children and to the information received by parents.

The aim of the therapy must be to improve patients' quality of life, and therefore treating the epileptic seizures only makes sense if by doing so an improvement in their quality of life is accomplished.