[Epilepsies and their medical treatment]

During the last decade, medical treatment of epilepsies has not progressed a lot regarding its efficacy, but options have widened considerably. Second generation antiepileptic drugs (AED) have advantages in pharmacokinetics, show an overall better tolerability as compared to old AED, and use new mechanisms of action. This offers the opportunity to invidualization of patient treatment. Whereas several drugs released since 2000 have already established their role in differential treatment of epilepsies, the role of new substances like lacosamide, eslicarbazepine, and retigabine will become clear during the years to come. Presently, new antiepileptic drugs play a key role in the initial treatment of epilepsies, in difficult-to-treat epilepsy syndromes, and recently also in intravenous epilepsy treatment. These treatment options have emerged not only in monotherapy, but also in combination therapy, where the lower tendency of interactions in new antiepileptic drugs like lacosamide, levetiracetam, pregabalin, and zonisamide offers particular advantages.