A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DILANTIN SODIUM AND PHENOBARBITAL IN A GROUP OF EPILEPTICS

1. A comparative study of the effectiveness of phenobarbital and dilantin-sodium on a group of chronic epileptics whose average duration of illness has been 15.6 years was undertaken. While phenobarbital has proven beneficial in most cases, the best results were obtained by using dilantin-sodium, as on the latter drug 40 per cent showed a complete cessation of seizures for a period of three to six months and 13.3 per cent showed a marked diminution in the number of convulsive responses, or a total of 53.3 per cent of improvement.

2. Complications ranging from slight myoclonic tremors to frank psychotic episodes occurred. However, most of them cleared upon withdrawal of the drug or diminution of the dosage.

3. In the treatment of epileptics, the therapy of choice varies with the individual. In our series of cases, dilantin-sodium has been the medication of choice despite its complications and has proven its worth as a valuable adjunct in the treatment of epileptics.