Zonisamide Masakazu Seino Ilo E. Leppik Introduction After a long hiatus in the development of novel drugs for treating epilepsy, the early 1990s saw several new antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) developed…

Vigabatrin Elinor Ben-Menachem Olivier Dulac Catherine Chiron Introduction Vigabatrin is a novel antiepileptic drug (AED). It differs from most other agents in that it was designed to have a specific…

Valproate Ahmad A. Beydoun Kevin Farrell Wassim M. Nasreddine Introduction Valproic acid was first synthesized in 1882 as an organic solvent in research laboratories.59 Its anticonvulsant effects were discovered serendipitously…

Topiramate Edward Faught Tracy A. Glauser Introduction Topiramate (TPM) is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug with multiple mechanisms of action. It was originally synthesized as part of a search for fructose-related…

Tiagabine Reetta Kälviäinen Introduction Tiagabine (Gabitril) (Fig. 1) is a selective γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) reuptake inhibitor (SGRI), which increases synaptic GABA availability via inhibition of the GAT-1 GABA transporter on…

Rufinamide Tracy A. Glauser Meir Bialer Introduction Rufinamide is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug (AED) with documented ability to block sodium (Na) channels.24,34 Following discovery of antiepileptic activity in animal models,…

Primidone Blaise F. D. Bourgeois Introduction Primidone has been in clinical use since 1952. Based on its chemical structure, primidone is not strictly a barbiturate. Therapeutically, however, it is appropriate…

Pregabalin Gregory K. Bergey Introduction Pregabalin is the most recent antiepileptic drug (AED) introduced in the United States; it received approval as adjunctive therapy for partial seizures in 2005. Pregabalin…

Phenytoin, Fosphenytoin, and Other Hydantoins John M. Stern Emilio Perucca Thomas R. Browne Introduction The hydantoins are derivatives of a common five-membered heterocyclic ring that differ according to their unique…

Phenobarbital and Other Barbiturates Mervyn J. Eadie Patrick Kwan Introduction The antiepileptic effect of phenobarbital (phenobarbitone) was described by Alfred Hauptmann as long ago as 1912,29 a little more than…