TY - JOUR T1 - Ethosuximide was superior to valproate and lamotrigine in controlling seizures and minimising side effects JF - Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition JO - Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed DO - 10.1136/adc.2010.199299 SP - edpract199299 A2 - , Y1 - 2010/10/01 UR - http://ep.bmj.com/content/early/2010/10/06/adc.2010.199299.abstract N2 - Design Randomised controlled trial. Allocation Computer-generated random schedule stratified by age and centre. Blinding Care givers and assessors blind to treatment. Blinded medications were prepared, based on body weight, at a central pharmacy and sent to the participants. Blinding of different preparations was maintained with a double dummy and overencapsulation approach. Setting 32 outpatient sites in the USA. Patients 453 children aged 2.5–13 years, with absence epilepsy as defined clinically and confirmed on EEG. Children with high body mass index, evidence of haematopoietic or liver dysfunction and girls who were post-menarchal were excluded. Intervention Patients were randomised to receive ethosuximide, valproic acid or lamotrigine, with escalation of doses over a 16-week period, with dose escalation and extension to 20 weeks if there were still … ER -