VPA syrup in childhood epilepsy. Results of an international clinical multicentre trial.

The anticonvulsive effectiveness of VPA syrup is evaluated in an international open phase III clinical trial. The study includes 96 childhood epilepsies and encompasses a rather heterogeneous test population regarding type of epilepsy and/or seizures. Clinical results stress the good therapeutic outcome in single drug treatment, regardless of the underlying epileptic syndrome, seizure type or serum concentration. Therapeutic failure is more often associated with combined drug treatment, symptomatic generalized epilepsies and serum levels below the therapeutic range. The anticonvulsive spectrum, tolerance and dose/level ratio are comparable with the characteristics of the drug's other galenic forms.