[Toxic effects of antiepileptic drugs: review of 100 cases (author's transl)].

A series of 100 epileptic patients in whom the incidence of toxic effects due to antiepileptic drugs was retrospectively studied form the basis of this report. The appearance of toxic effects depended mainly on the number of drugs used, the length of therapy and the evolution of the epileptic crisis; they were more important in focal epilepsies, which were those with more resistance to therapeutic control and requiring increasing number and doses of antiepileptic drugs. Some side effects were observed in 60% of the patients involving generally the nervous system, skin, connective tissue, skeletal system, and hematopoietic organs. The drugs had to be reduced in 19% of these patients because of excessive sedation, mild central nervous system intoxication and various psychological effects, while treatment had to be changed in 11% due to acute intoxication with skin involvement, hematologic alterations and excessive sedation.