[Negative aspects of pharmacological prevention of epilepsy]

Pharmacological prevention of epilepsy, especially in cases of past cranial trauma, arose as one of the problems connected with this disease. Attention has been called, however, ever more frequently to the neurotoxic effects of antiepileptic drugs symptoms and signs of with brain damage. Drug-induced encephalopathy or neuropathy occur particularly in patients with disorders of anticonvulsant drug metabolism in liver diseases or due to inborn enzymatic defects. Teratogenic and even epileptogenic side effects has been described in cases treated with therapeutic doses of anticonvulsants. The author discusses in this aspect the indications to pharmacological prevention of epilepsy quoting cases observed by her in which cranial trauma was followed by one or several seizures in early post-traumatic period and presence of seizure potentials was found in EEG. During follow-up observations of severel years duration the seizures were not repeated and EEG has returned to normal.