The Treatment of Childhood Epilepsy With Sodium Valproate

Sodium valproate was used to treat 32 children with epilepsy, most of whom did not respond to other anticonvulsants. Among patients with petit mal, 10 out of 13 achieved complete control, while 4 out of 11 with grand mal experienced a reduction in seizures by more than 90%. However, none of the 8 patients with temporal lobe or myoclonic epilepsy showed improvement. The only side effect noted was temporary hair loss in one patient, though sodium valproate was found to enhance the side effects of other drugs like bromide, primidone, and phenytoin. Thirteen patients received doses higher than the recommended maximum of 1.4 g per day without adverse effects. Serum level monitoring was not particularly useful, likely due to the drug's short half-life.