Complex partial seizures: EEG foci and response to carbamazepine and sodium valproate.

The EEG and clinical records were reviewed of 85 subjects who had been treated for complex partial seizures with carbamazepine alone or with a combination of carbamazepine and sodium valproate. There was a correlation between the site of the EEG abnormality and the therapeutic response to anticonvulsant therapy. Subjects who had a left sided temporal lobe EEG abnormality responded better to carbamazepine alone, while those who had an abnormality on the right responded to a combination of carbamazepine and sodium valproate.