AES 2023 Annual Fundamentals Symposium | Antiseizure Medications: A through Z

Antiseizure medications are a mainstay of epilepsy therapy. However, status epilepticus is often inadequately treated, and societal and economical constraints may pose limits on medical management. We now have more than 25 FDA-approved drugs and choosing the first or subsequent antiseizure agent or combination therapy can be a daunting task. Older agents have a long track record and are often well-researched but their adverse effect profile or drugdrug interactions can be off-putting. Newer drugs may present a more attractive choice given their reported efficacy and better tolerability. Yet, long-term data or studies in special populations may be conflicting or lacking. General sparsity of head-to-head comparative trials and a strive for precision therapy that considers genetic etiology further add to a practitioner’s conundrum.
This symposium delivers an overview of the current antiseizure medication landscape and presents a practical appraisal of their application in clinical practice, presents AES recommendations for effective management of status epilepticus, and discusses socio-economical barriers to access to pharmacotherapy among different countries.