UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Improving the tolerability of antiseizure medications: When and how to use cenobamate and other new antiseizure medications

Krauss, Gregory L; Sander, Josemir W; Rosenfeld, William E; (2025) Improving the tolerability of antiseizure medications: When and how to use cenobamate and other new antiseizure medications. Epilepsia , 66 (S1) pp. 15-28. 10.1111/epi.18304.

[thumbnail of 83472 Krauss tolerability chap 2 suppl_2024-12-06v2 wer_ls_final.pdf] Text
83472 Krauss tolerability chap 2 suppl_2024-12-06v2 wer_ls_final.pdf - Accepted Version
Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 20 March 2026.

Download (695kB)

Abstract

Despite the introduction of newer antiseizure medications (ASMs) with improved safety profiles over the past several years, rates of treatment-related intolerable adverse events (AEs) for people with epilepsy have not changed substantially. Tolerability issues can potentially jeopardize optimal dosing and effectiveness, regimen adherence, and treatment retention with these newer medications. Long-term clinical studies, open-label extension studies, and postmarketing studies allow flexible dosing and adjustment of concomitant ASMs, which can help clinicians reduce treatment-related AEs and thus improve the retention and tolerability of these treatments. With newer effective treatments (e.g., lacosamide, eslicarbazepine, perampanel, brivaracetam, and most recently, cenobamate), the risk of AEs may be minimized by proactively adjusting concomitant ASMs that have known pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic drug interactions. Additional tolerability considerations should be made for specific populations, for example, more determined reductions in concomitant ASMs may be required to improve treatment tolerability in older people, and individuals with more refractory seizures may require higher doses. Strategies to improve the tolerability of effective ASMs further, including earlier add-on therapy and transition to, or initial, monotherapy should be investigated. Ongoing clinical studies in children and people with generalized tonic-clonic seizures of the most recent ASM addition, cenobamate, will further inform the safety profile of cenobamate and its potential utility as a broad-spectrum treatment option.

Type: Article
Title: Improving the tolerability of antiseizure medications: When and how to use cenobamate and other new antiseizure medications
Location: United States
DOI: 10.1111/epi.18304
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.18304
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Cenobamate, drug–drug interactions, titration, tolerability
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10207323
Downloads since deposit
1Download
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item