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. 2024 Oct 7:15357597241281838.
doi: 10.1177/15357597241281838. Online ahead of print.

The Fundamentals of Antiseizure Medications: A Through Z

Timothy E Welty  1   2 , Jeannine M Conway  3 , Jacquelyn Bainbridge  4 , Kristen Park  5 , David G Vossler  6 , Archana A Patel  7 , Alica Goldman  8
Affiliations

The Fundamentals of Antiseizure Medications: A Through Z

Timothy E Welty et al. Epilepsy Curr. .

Abstract

Since bromides were first used in 1857 to treat epilepsy, numerous antiseizure medications (ASM) have been developed. Many of these are available for the treatment of epilepsy and status epilepticus today. With so many ASM available, questions arise as to whether all of these medications are needed and when should they be used. As precision medicine begins to play a larger role in determining targeted treatments for specific types of epilepsy, a complete understanding of various medications is needed. Additionally, access to several of these medications can be limited in the United States and are especially limited globally. All these factors can make proper selection of ASM challenging and difficult for clinicians. This review highlights important aspects of older and newer medications, developments in precision medicine for epilepsy, increasing understanding of effective treatments for status epileptics, and a global perspective on ASM availability.

Keywords: access to seizure medications; antiseizure medications; epilepsies; global; pharmacology; precision medicine; status epilepticus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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