In the last few years, several new antiepileptic drugs appeared on the pharmaceutical market. In our country six second generation drugs are available (lamotrigin, levetiracetam, gabapentin, oxcarbazepin, pregabalin, topiramat). These drugs may improve the therapeutic strategies of epilepsy. Objectives: To investigate the drug utilization pattern of antiepileptic drugs in the adult neurology ambulatory of Mureş County Emergency Hospital, Târgu Mureş. Material and Methods: In this study we compared the therapeutic strategies of epilepsy in 2007 and 2010, using the registries of the neurological ambulatory. We analyzed the antiepileptic treatments regarding age and sex; we examined the frequency of prescribed drugs and the frequency of drug combinations. Results: In 2007 antiepileptics were prescribed for 457 patients, whose mean age was 42.6 years and from these 48% were female. In 2010 there were 267 patients, their mean age was 41.7 years and 50% of them were female. Monotherapy was used at 72.6% of the patients in 2007, while in 2010 at 61%. The most frequently used antiepileptic in monotherapy was carbamazepin; the most frequent combination of two drugs was carbamazepin+valproic acid. Second generation monotherapy was used at 10.5% of females and 3.5% of males in 2007, while in 2010 at 30% of females and 10% of males. From the total prescribed antiepileptics 6% belonged to the second generation in 2007, and 17% in 2010. Conclusions: In our region the most frequently used antiepileptics are the first generation drugs, but it could be observed an increasing tendency of the utilization of newer drugs in 2010. Polytherapy and combination of second generation drugs was more frequent in 2010. This fact, and the fact that the sample was fewer in 2010 than in 2007, could be explained by the law appeared after 2007, which regulates the number of patients who can be examined in one hour. In this manner the prescription of antiepileptics for patients responsive to monotherapy, became the task of general practitioners.
Keywords: epilepsy, treatment, Târgu Mureş