BACKGROUND: The safety profile of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) is an important consideration for the regulatory bodies, owners and prescribing clinicians. Meta-analysis has increasingly been used to identify adverse effects of drugs. Efficacy studies are often too small to reliably assess risks that become important when a medication is in widespread use, so meta-analysis, which is a statistically efficient way to pool evidence from similar studies, seems like a natural approach. The safety profile of drugs is an important consideration and it affects cliniciansÂ’ decisions to prescribe specific AED(s), as serious adverse effects can lead to chronic complications or even death. Less serious, but nonetheless important, adverse effects can significantly impact quality of life, leading to systematic illness which may increase the overall cost of treatment
METHODS: An electronic search was performed in using Pubmed,Paediatric journals of Neurology, MEDLINE etc.
RESULTS: The literature search identified 30 unduplicated papers. Of these 11 papers were excluded by reading the abstracts and titles. Another 10 papers were excluded after reading their complete text. We selected 9 papers which comprised of case studies and observational studies.
CONCLUSION: The combination of different antiepileptic drugs has resulted in drug induced choreoathetosis. A particular increased risk was seen with combinations that have phenytoin and lamotrigine. This could be due to an additive or a synergistic effect on central dopaminergic pathways.
Key words: choreoathetosis,antiepileptics, meta analysis
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