[Monotherapy with carbamazepine in childhood epilepsies]

68 epileptic children were treated with carbamazepine (CBZ) monotherapy for a mean period of 10 months. The seizures disappeared in 43% and decreased in another 26.5% of cases. The treatment was particularly efficient in partial benign epilepsies (disappearance: 64.7%, reduction: 29.4%) and in partial unclassifiable epilepsies (disappearance: 50%, reduction: 25%). It is sometimes useful to achieve blood levels over 4 micrograms/ml; but over 8 micrograms/ml the frequency of side-effects becomes greater than improvement of fit frequency. The dose-concentration relation is well correlated to age, so that blood level measurements do not need to be systematically performed. In order to obtain mean blood levels of 7 micrograms/ml 3 to 4 hours after morning intake, mean daily dose should range from: 20 mg/kg/24 h before 5 years to 10 mg/kg/24 h after 10 years.