ABSTRACT
The successful treatment of seizures with anticonvulsant drugs began in 1857 with the discovery by Charles Locock that potassium bromide reduced the frequency of seizures in some of his patients with epilepsy. Fifty-five years then passed before Hauptman presented an account of his experience with phénobarbital as an anticovulsant drug. The pharmacological response to a drug is a result of the interaction of the drug with tissue receptors controlling that response. Despite the large number of drugs available, however, six drugs are the principal agents being used in treating patients with epilepsy: phenytoin, phénobarbital, primidone, carbamazepine, ethosuximide, and valproic acid. The clinical pharmacology of six drugs is summarized and their clinical manifestations of toxicity are presented. The measurement of anticonvulsant drug concentrations is always useful in the detection of patient noncompliance with a prescribed regimen. The chapter describes HPLC analysis of vaîproic acid and these procedures require either postcolumn reactions or precolumn derivatization.
