Question

Lindsey T. is a 12 year old middle school student who was diagnosed with clonic-tonic seizures 6 months ago. Although she has always performed well in school, she has started having difficulty in her classes because she is falling asleep in class and has trouble concentrating. Her mother complains that she is "not her usual self" and seems listless and depressed. She recently went for her regular dental checkup and had five new carious lesions, although she has always had good checkups before. She is taking carbamazepine chewable tablets four times a day to manage her seizure disorder but still has seizures when she has her menstrual cycle or is under a lot of stress.

All of the statements are correct regarding epilepsy except which of the following?
A. The efficacy of drug therapy for epilepsy varies from complete control to simply reducing seizure frequency
B. Antiepileptic drugs have few adverse effects, and those are usually mild
C. Chronic toxicity is an important concern because these drugs are usually taken for life
D. Choice of a specific entiepileptic drug is based on the type of seizures
E. Antiepileptic drugs may be taken singly or in combination

Answer 1

The incorrect statement regarding epilepsy is that antiepileptic drugs have few adverse effects and those are usually mild. Medications for epilepsy, like carbamazepine, can have significant adverse effects which can be observed in the case of Lindsey T., a 12 year old with clonic-tonic seizures.

Step-by-step explanation:

Lindsey T. is a 12 year old middle school student who has been diagnosed with clonic-tonic seizures and is experiencing side effects likely related to her medication, carbamazepine, for epilepsy. In response to the question of which statement is incorrect about epilepsy, it is evident that choice B. Antiepileptic drugs have few adverse effects, and those are usually mild is incorrect.

These medications can indeed have significant side effects as seen in Lindsey's case where she seems listless and depressed, has new carious lesions and experiences drowsiness likely due to her medication. Whereas other statements about epilepsy and its treatment:

A regarding the varied efficacy of drug therapy, C about chronic toxicity concerns, D on seizure type-based drug choice, and E about the possibility of monotherapy or combination therapy are all correctly associated with epilepsy management.