[Hyperactive behavior in children as a complication of antiepileptic treatment].

The article deals with a rather frequent complication of antiepileptic treatment (largely with phenobarbital) observed in children, namely, psychomotor hyperactivity. Phenomenological similarity of this kind of drug-associated complications on the one hand and pathogenic complications on the other seriously hinders their differentiation. For this reason, following the appearance of the first signs of hyperactivity (either acute or latent) all efforts should be aimed at the identification of its underlying cause, shunning the injudicious increase in doses and, particularly, in the number of anticonvulsants used, since polytherapy involves specific difficulties in the diagnosis. Recent studies confirming the hypothesis that phenobarbital has a considerable effect on the sleep organization, reducing its paradoxical phase, may to a certain extent explain behavioural abnormalities secondary to reconstruction of the emotional-motivational sphere of the child, resulting from drug therapy.