[Valproic acid -- clinical efficiency and serum concentration in the treatment of petit mal epilepsy in childhood (author's transl)].

28 children with Petit mal epilepsy were treated with valproic acid either as drug of primary choice or because of resistance to other antiepileptic drugs. Efficacy of treatment was measured by reduction of seizure frequency and EEG-recordings. Serum concentration of valproic acid was measured in all patients. The best clinical efficacy was found in children with absence seizures, who also required the lowest dosages. Side effects of therapy were (in most cases) transitory.