Antiepileptic Drug Therapy in Pediatrics

Antiepileptic Drug Therapy in Pediatrics.Edited by Paolo L Morselli, CE Pippenger, J Kiffin Penry.(Pp 381; $61.38.)New York: Raven Press, 1982.Voltaire's gibe about physicians who pour drugs of which they know little into bodies of which they know less is slightly less just today than it was two centuries ago, but few would claim it to be entirely unde- served.The Sage of Ferney would welcome this book.It comprises the proceedings of a symposium on Antiepileptic Drugs in Newborns, Infants, Children and Adolescents held in South Carolina in late 1981, with the assistance of the International League against Epilepsy and a drug firm.The editors have done well to bring forth the book so quickly.The publisher's claim that the volume is the first single sourcebook available on the use of anticonvulsants in pediatric practice is, I think, correct, and, as such I welcome it too.Thirty four chapters by 32 contributors (13 from continental Europe and the United Kingdom and the rest from North America), are divided into seven sections.These are: General aspects, Pharmacokinetics, Differential Diagnosis and Clinical Efficacy of Drugs with Respect to Seizure Types, Effect of Antiepileptic Drugs on Psychosocial Development, Individualization of Drug Therapy, Current Problems in the Management of the Epilepsies, and Foundations for Future Research.