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Discontinuation of phenobarbital in children: effects on neurocognitive behavior
1Department of Child Neurology, Istituto Nazionale Neurologico, Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy.
Insights
Phenobarbital, used for epilepsy treatment, can cause attention and memory issues in children. These neurocognitive deficits are reversible after stopping the medication.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Neuropsychology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Phenobarbital is a common antiepileptic drug.
- Long-term effects of phenobarbital on neurocognitive function in children are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of phenobarbital discontinuation on neurocognitive performance in children with epilepsy.
- To determine if phenobarbital-induced cognitive deficits are reversible.
Main Methods:
- Neurocognitive performance was assessed in 9 children with epilepsy before and after discontinuing phenobarbital.
- Patients were seizure-free for at least 2 years and had no EEG anomalies for at least 1 year prior to discontinuation.
Main Results:
- Phenobarbital, even at low therapeutic doses, was associated with attentional and memory deficits.
- These deficits showed significant improvement at least 6 months after phenobarbital discontinuation.
Conclusions:
- Low-dose phenobarbital can reversibly impair cognitive functions like attention and memory in children with epilepsy.
- Further research with larger sample sizes is recommended to confirm these findings.
Abstract:
Neurocognitive performances were evaluated in 9 children with different types of epilepsy prior to and at least 6 months after discontinuation of phenobarbital. The patients treated with phenobarbital monotherapy were seizure free for at least 2 years, without electro-encephalographic anomalies for at least 1 year. Results indicated that phenobarbital at low therapeutic doses causes attentional and memory deficits, reversible after therapy discontinuation. Further research utilizing the same design is needed on larger samples in order to confirm our results.