An initial study on the general state and sodium valproate therapy of epilepsy in rural area of Guangxi Autonomous Region

Objective To investigate the general state, effective rate and continuous treating rate of sodium valproate (VPA) in epilepsy in rural area of Guangxi Autonomous Region. Methods In part of the rural area of Guangxi Autonomous Region, patients diagnosed as definited or suspected epilepsy were screened with unified questionnaires by trained general practitioners and confirmed by neurologists. The effective rate and continuous treating rate were used to assess the efficacy of sodium valproate for epilepsy. Results Out of 309 patients with epilepsy, there were 86 cases (27.83%) with definite causes, and 134 cases followed more than 6 months. There were 76 cases (56.72%) with significant efficiency, 34 cases (25.37%) efficiency and 20 cases (14.93%) inefficacy. Four cases (2.99%) presented exacerbation. The total effective rate in generalized tonic ⁃ clonic seizure (GTCS) was 83.51% (81/97), partial secondary generalized seizure was 87.50% (14/16), simple partial seizure (SPS) was 71.43% (5/7), complex partial seizure (CPS) was 60% (6/10), absence seizure was 100% (3/3), and other type was 100% (1/1). The continuous treating rate on the 6th, 12th and 18th month of therapy was 97.73% (302/309), 97.09% (300/309) and 83.50% (258/309), respectively. There were 30 cases had adverse reaction. The adverse reactions included asthenia (20% ), somnolence (13.33% ), hypomnesia (10% ), liver dysfunction (10% ), dizziness (10% ), weight gain (6.67% ), excessive appetite (6.67% ), headache (6.67% ), tremor (6.67% ), baldness (3.33%), instability of gait (3.33%) and anorexia (3.33%). The incidence rate of adverse reaction was 9.71% . Conclusion There are no significant differences of the age of onset and sex distribution of epilepsy in rural area of Guangxi Autonomous Region between those in domestic other rural areas of our country. The continuous treating rate can be used as the index to assess long⁃term efficacy of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). This index integrated with the effecitve rate can comprehensively reflect the curative effect of sodium valproate. Sodium valproate can be used for epilepsy in other areas with similar conditions. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2010.06.01