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Earlier this year the first case-control analysis to determine the odds of AED substitution among patients requiring emergency care was published in the journal Epilepsia (Zachry, et al). Using the Ingenix LabRX data base, the study reported that patients who had an epileptic event requiring emergency care, who had not required care for at least six months, had 81% greater odds of having an AED formulation switch.
The results of the Zachry study have now been replicated using a different data base (PharMetrics) and an even larger control group. Published in the July 2009 issue of the journal Pharmacotherapy, Rascati and colleagues conclude: “Patients who had an epileptic event requiring acute care were about 80% more likely than matched controls without an acute event to have recently had an antiepileptic drug substitution. Replication of a previously published case-control analysis revealed a similar association between substitution involving A-rated antiepileptic drugs and subsequent epileptic events requiring acute care, thereby lending credibility to the findings.”
Additional articles on the subject follow.
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