Abstracts

Rationale: OBJECTIVE: To analyze the experience and results in one year of evaluation of a Mexican epilepsy cohort under treatment in a reference center/University Hospital in a central area in Mexico. We mainly wanted to know what the average number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and the first and second choices in the selected treatment were, after training the residents about such treatment options. We also pursued to know the percentage of seizure-free patients. Methods: BACKGROUND:; The Central Hospital in San Luis Potosi, Mexico attends the poorest people of the central region in Mexico, most from the state (1,500,000 inhabitants) but also from the population of nine states around. We wished to know how was our experience in the last year in the Epilepsy Clinic in this institution.            We evaluated 632 new patients, with one or more visits the last year (June 16th, 2016 to June the 15th, 2017). 55% were women, with an average age of 32 years old, with a minimum of 15 and maximum of 87 years old. Results: 58 % of the patients were in monotherapy, and the first AED of choice was carbamazepine (CBZ) (39.8%), followed by valproic acid (VPA) (20.8 %) and levetiracetam (LEV) (19.7%).            85.25% of the patients were seizure free under treatment with one or two AEDs. Of them, 27.3% is under treatment with two AEDs. Only 12.74% use 3 AEDs, and 2% is under 4 or more AEDs treatment.            We most often choose CBZ in patients with focal seizures and VPA in patients with generalized seizures, but LEV has increasingly being used as the first option in women in reproductive age to avoid the teratogenic effects of VPA, thus increasing LEV prescription. Conclusions: A teaching system can help to reduce AEDs overuse or misuse and possibly to reach a better control of patients with epilepsy and to avoid the teratogenic complications in populations at risk. Funding: Not funding was received