ArticleNeurology2018
Antiepileptic drug treatment after an unprovoked first seizure: A decision analysis.
Article in Neurology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Challenges in antiseizure medication discontinuation decisions: A qualitative study of clinicians who see patients with epilepsy.Clinical neurology and neurosurgery · 2026Article
- Antiseizure Medication Withdrawal Practice Patterns: A Survey Among Members of the American Academy of Neurology and EpiCARE.Neurology. Clinical practice · 2023Article
- Recurrence risk after a first remote symptomatic seizure in adults: Epilepsy or not?Epilepsia open · 2021Review
- Seizure Prophylaxis After Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.JAMA neurology · 2021Article
- Cost Efficacy of Rapid Whole Genome Sequencing in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2021Article
- A Theoretical Paradigm for Evaluating Risk-Benefit of Status Epilepticus Treatment.Journal of clinical neurophysiology : official publication of the American Electroencephalographic Society · 2020Review
- Refining General Principles of Antiepileptic Drug Treatments for Epilepsy.Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) · 2020Review
- Epilepsy Education: Recent Advances and Future Directions.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2019Review
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo compare the expected quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) in adult patients undergoing immediate vs deferred antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment after a first unprovoked seizure.
methodsWe constructed a simulated clinical trial (Markov decision model) to compare immediate vs deferred AED treatment after a first unprovoked seizure in adults. Three base cases were considered, representing patients with varying degrees of seizure recurrence risk and effect of seizures on quality of life (QOL). Cohort simulation was performed to determine which treatment strategy would maximize the patient's expected QALYs. Sensitivity analyses were guided by clinical data to define decision thresholds across plausible measurement ranges, including seizure recurrence rate, effect of seizure recurrence on QOL, and efficacy of AEDs.
resultsFor patients with a moderate risk of recurrent seizures (52.0% over 10 years after first seizure), immediate AED treatment maximized QALYs compared to deferred treatment. Sensitivity analyses showed that for the preferred choice to change to deferred AED treatment, key clinical measures needed to reach implausible values were 10-year seizure recurrence rate ≤38.0%, QOL reduction with recurrent seizures ≤0.06, and efficacy of AEDs on lowering seizure recurrence rate ≤16.3%.
conclusionOur model determined that immediate AED treatment is preferable to deferred treatment in adult first-seizure patients over a wide and clinically relevant range of variables. Furthermore, our analysis suggests that the 10-year seizure recurrence rate that justifies AED treatment (38.0%) is substantially lower than the 60% threshold used in the current definition of epilepsy.
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