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Oxcarbazepine

Oxcarbazepine (Marketed as Trileptal^® by Novartis) is an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizing drug, used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. more...

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Oxcarbazepine is structurally a derivative of carbamazepine, adding an extra oxygen atom to the benzylcarboxamide group. This difference helps reduce the impact on the liver of metabolizing the drug, and also prevents the serious forms of anemia occasionally associated with carbamazepine. Aside from this reduction in side effects, it is thought to have the same mechanism as carbamazepine - sodium channel inhibition - and is generally used to treat the same conditions.

Side effects

Oxcarbazepine occasionally causes fatigue, nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, and blurred or double vision. It can cause hyponatremia, so blood sodium levels should be tested if the patient complains of severe fatigue.

History

First synthesized in 1966, it was approved for use as an anticonvulsant in Denmark in 1990. It was approved in all EU countries in 1999 and in the US in 2000.

Other Information

Oxcarbazapine may make cause oral hormonal contraceptives to be less effective.

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FDA Approval of Oxcarbazepine - Trileptal
From American Family Physician, 6/1/00 by Monica Preboth

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) for the treatment of partial seizures as monotherapy in adults and as adjunctive treatment in children between four and 16 years of age.

Oxcarbazepine is available in tablets of 150 mg, 300 mg and 600 mg. In adults, adjunctive treatment should be initiated with a dosage of 600 mg two times per day. When converting to monotherapy, adults should be given 600 mg per day while simultaneously reducing the dose of the concomitant antiepileptic medications. Children should receive 8 to 10 mg per kg per day, not to exceed 600 mg two times per day.

Adverse events associated with the use of oxcarbazepine include cognitive symptoms such as psychomotor slowing, difficulty with concentration and speech or language problems; somnolence or fatigue; and coordination abnormalities, including ataxia and gait disturbances. Patients who are hypersensitive to carbamazepine should be told that approximately 25 to 30 percent of these patients may experience hypersensitivity to oxcarbazepine. The medication may also render hormonal contraceptives less effective.

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