Pharmacological outcomes in juvenile myoclonic epilepsy: Support for sodium valproate

Purpose Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) is one of the most frequently diagnosed of the idiopathic generalised epilepsy syndromes, but long term outcome data still remain sparse. Methods A retrospective audit was undertaken in 186 patients (male: n = 78; female: n = 108) diagnosed with JME at the Epilepsy Unit at the Western Infirmary in Glasgow, Scotland between July 1981 and July 2012. Median age at treatment start was 16 years (range 13–44), with median follow-up of 14 years (range 2–32). Results Overall, 171 patients (92%) achieved remission with antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment (median 9.5 years; range 1–31). After discontinuing treatment in 28 patients, only 11 remained seizure-free off medication. Fifteen patients (8%) continued to have seizures despite having tried up to 8 AED regimens: (5 male, 10 female), 7 of whom had psychiatric comorbidities. AEDs most commonly prescribed included sodium valproate (VPA; n = 142), lamotrigine (LTG; n = 66) and levetiracetam (LEV; n = 22). More male patients than female attained remission with their first or second AED schedule (88% versus 56%). More male patients (44%) received VPA than female (31%) overall. Fewer male patients than female received LTG (26% versus 74%) and LEV (22% versus 78%). Of the monotherapies, remission was achieved using VPA (n = 74; 52%), LTG (n = 21; 32%) and LEV (n = 12, 55%). A total of 76 (25%) of AED schedules resulted in intolerable side-effects, including 29 with VPA, 12 with LTG and 4 with LEV. Conclusion Overall, JME showed a high rate of seizure freedom with AED treatment. VPA appeared to be the most effective AED. Women tended to have a worse outcome than men, since they were increasingly less likely to receive VPA. Patients with psychiatric comorbidities also had a poorer prognosis