Oral valproic acid for epilepsy--long-term experience in therapy and side effects.

Valproic acid (VPA) is considered to be a drug of first choice and one of the most frequently-prescribed antiepileptic drugs worldwide for the therapy of generalized and focal epilepsies, including special epileptic. It is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug and is usually well tolerated. Rarely, serious complications may occur in some patients, including hemorrhagic pancreatitis, coagulopathies, bone marrow suppression, VPA-induced hepatotoxicity and encephalopathy, but there is still a lack of knowledge about the incidence and occurrence of these special side effects. Additionally, the consequences for VPA therapy and indication are more or less unclear. By literature review and own data this review addresses some of the challenges of VPA therapy and its side effects, which are not unique to epilepsy in childhood.