[The place of eslicarbazepine acetate in the treatment of epilepsy in adults].

Eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL), a sodium ionchannel blocker as a third-generation antiseizure drug is a member of the firstline dibenzazepine antiseizure medications after carbamazepine (first generation) and oxcarbazepine (second generation). The hypothesis of the further development of carbamazepine was that the direct metabolite S-licarbazepine possessed higher permeability to blood-brain barrier compared to R-enantiomer. This can lead to a more efficacious drug with fewer side effects.Based on the results of the randomized controlled clinical trials can be established that ESL administered once daily as addon pharmacotherapy is efficacious, welltolerated with a beneficial safety profile in patients with focal epilepsies (with or without secondary generalization) in adults and in children older than 6 years. ESL used in monotherapy is recommended also in focal epilepsies (with or without secondary generalization) for newly diagnosed adult epileptic patients. It has been confirmed that ESL either in monotherapy or in combination drug treatment is an effective, well-tolerated and safe antiseizure medication.