Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28916534›Full record

Trial reportNeurology2017

Pretreatment behavior and subsequent medication effects in childhood absence epilepsy.

Ruth C Shinnar, Shlomo Shinnar, Avital Cnaan, Peggy Clark, Dennis Dlugos, Deborah G Hirtz, Fengming Hu, Chunyan Liu, David Masur, Erica F Weiss and 2 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neurology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT00088452 (Childhood Absence Epilepsy Rx PK-PD-Pharmacogenetics Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 19 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT00088452 phase3completednot on this map

Childhood Absence Epilepsy Rx PK-PD-Pharmacogenetics Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorChildren's Hospital Medical Center, CincinnatiRan2004 to 2016Enrolled453ConditionsChildhood Absence Epilepsy, Petit Mal Epilepsy, Epilepsy, SeizuresArmsEthosuximide, Lamotrigine, Valproic acid
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Article
  8. Interruption of rat absence seizures by auditory stimulation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Absence Seizures in Children: Usual and the Unusual.Indian journal of pediatrics · 2020
    Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ruth C ShinnarFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD. codell@sprynet.com.
Shlomo ShinnarFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Avital CnaanFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Peggy ClarkFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Dennis DlugosFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Deborah G HirtzFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Fengming HuFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Chunyan LiuFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
David MasurFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Erica F WeissFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Tracy A GlauserFrom Montefiore Medical Center (R.C.S., S.S., D.M., E.F.W.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; George Washington University (A.C.), Washington, DC; Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (P.C., C.L., T.A.G.), OH; The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (D.D.), Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (D.G.H.); and Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (F.H.), Bethesda, MD.
Childhood Absence Epilepsy Study Group
Henry M. Jackson Foundation · USChildren's Hospital at Montefiore · US

Funding

Impact of Initial Therapy and Response on Long Term Outcome in Children with CAEU01NS045911 · NINDS · CINCINNATI CHILDRENS HOSP MED CTR · PI GLAUSER, TRACY A · 2003 to 2013
$31.1M
Childhood Absence Epilepsy: Coordinating CenterU01NS045803 · NINDS · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · PI CNAAN, AVITAL · 2003 to 2008
$4.0M
NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS045803NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS045911
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo characterize pretreatment behavioral problems and differential effects of initial therapy in children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE).

methodsThe Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was administered at baseline, week 16-20, and month 12 visits of a randomized double-blind trial of ethosuximide, lamotrigine, and valproate. Total problems score was the primary outcome measure.

resultsA total of 382 participants at baseline, 310 participants at the week 16-20 visit, and 168 participants at the month 12 visit had CBCL data. At baseline, 8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6%-11%) of children with CAE had elevated total problems scores (mean 52.9 ± 10.91). At week 16-20, participants taking valproic acid had significantly higher total problems (51.7 [98.3% CI 48.6-54.7]), externalizing problems (51.4 [98.3% CI 48.5-54.3]), attention problems (57.8 [98.3% CI 55.6-60.0]), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems (55.8 [98.3% CI 54.1-57.6]) scores compared to participants taking ethosuximide (46.5 [98.3% CI 43.4-49.6]; 45.8 [98.3% CI 42.9-48.7]; 54.6 [98.3% CI 52.4-56.9]; 53.0 [98.3% CI 51.3-54.8]). Lack of seizure freedom and elevated week 16-20 Conner Continuous Performance Test confidence index were associated with worse total problems scores. At month 12, participants taking valproic acid had significantly higher attention problems scores (57.9 [98.3% CI 55.6-60.3]) compared to participants taking ethosuximide (54.5 [95% CI 52.1-56.9]).

conclusionsPretreatment and ongoing behavioral problems exist in CAE. Valproic acid is associated with worse behavioral outcomes than ethosuximide or lamotrigine, further reinforcing ethosuximide as the preferred initial therapy for CAE. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT00088452. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that for children with CAE, valproic acid is associated with worse behavioral outcomes than ethosuximide or lamotrigine.

Indexed as

AdolescentAnticonvulsantsChecklistChildChild Behavior DisordersChild, PreschoolCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodElectroencephalographyEpilepsy, AbsenceEthosuximideFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansLamotrigineMaleAnticonvulsantsEthosuximideLamotrigineTriazinesValproic Acid

Identifiers

PMID28916534
PMCPMC5644466
OpenAlexW2755671230

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.