Transition from oxcarbazepine to eslicarbazepine acetate: A single center study

There is limited clinical evidence for comparison between oxcarbazepine (OXC) and eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) in terms of tolerability, or how to execute the change from OXC to ESL. We report the process of transitioning patients with focal epilepsy from previous OXC treatment to ESL due to tolerability problems. The rationale for change from OXC is reported, and the outcome with respective to this rationale is analyzed in terms of tolerability and efficacy.

The subjects were transitioned overnight from OXC to ESL in a hospital inpatient setting. An evaluation of the effects of the transition was made after 1 and 3 months. All adverse events (AEs) were recorded following the transition period. Subjects were classified by outcome in terms of AEs.

Twenty-three subjects were transitioned from OXC to ESL. Fifteen patients OXC-related AEs reduced significantly after transition. Particularly, most of (93%) the AEs presented in the morning resolved after transition to ESL. No patient had an increase in seizure frequency following the transition. The incidence of ESL-related AEs was 39% at 1 month and 13% at 3 month follow-up; however, all patients continued ESL throughout the study period.

This study demonstrates that patients suffering from OXC-related AEs improve in terms of tolerability after a switch to ESL with maintaining seizure control. This improvement is more pronounced if the OXC-related AEs are most evident following morning dosing of OXC. Transition can be safely executed in an outpatient setting.