Safety aspects of antiepileptic drugs--focus on pharmacovigilance.

PURPOSE

Most patients with epilepsy are dependent on a life-long pharmacological treatment with antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). AEDs include a wide range of substances that possess large pharmacological variability and are often susceptible to drug interactions and adverse drug reactions (ADRs). AEDs are increasingly used in other neurological and psychiatric disorders, and new patient groups are exposed to these drugs. The aim of the present review is to focus upon how pharmacovigilance contributes to improved safety of AEDs.

METHODS

The present article is a review based on searches in Pubmed on articles from the last 15 years. Strengths and challenges regarding these aspects will be highlighted and discussed.

RESULTS

The concept of pharmacovigilance includes various methods of monitoring of large patient populations with registries and databases of surveillance of ADRs and risk of suicide and sudden unexpected death, drug utilization and prescription patterns, pregnancy and birth registries and therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) databases for studies on pharmacological variability of AEDs in large sample sizes. Challenges for existing reporting systems and databases include differences in outcome measures and thus international comparison.

CONCLUSION

Continuous focus on safety aspects of AEDs and the importance of the implementation of pharmacovigilance contribute to further optimized therapy on a large scale and for the individual patient.