In a systematic review of antiepileptic drugs, Philippe Ryvlin (of the Hospices Civils de Lyon, France) and colleagues show that children with drug-resistant partial epilepsy enrolled in trials seem to have a greater response to placebo than adults enrolled in such trials. This finding is an important factor to consider when designing drug trials to be carried out in children with epilepsy.
These findings are discussed by Terry Klassen, from the University of Alberta, and his colleagues – who were not involved in the research. Klassen and colleagues comment on the "relatively weak evidence base informing medical care in children compared with adults". They argue that there is a pressing need for more clinical trials research in children, but caution that such studies must be carefully designed and reported in order to provide valid results.
Citation: Rheims S, Cucherat M, Arzimanoglou A, Ryvlin P(2008) Greater response to placebo in children than in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis in drugresistant partial epilepsy. PLoS Med 5(8): e166.
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PUBLISHED PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi:10.1371/journalpmed.0050166
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-08-ryvlin.pdf
CONTACT:
Professor Philippe Ryvlin
Hospices Civils de Lyon
Department of Functional Neurology and Epileptology
59 Bd Pinel
Lyon, 69003
France
+33 472357044
ryvlin@cermep.fr
TRANSLATION OF THE ABSTRACT INTO FRENCH: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-08-ryvlin-french.pdf
Please note that the translations are the work of the authors of the study and PLoS is not responsible for any inaccuracies.
Related PLoS Medicine Perspective:
Citation: Klassen TP, Hartling L, Craig JC, Offringa M (2008) Children are not just small adults: The urgent need for high-quality trial evidence in children. PLoS Med 5(8): e172.
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE PUBLISHED PAPER http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050172
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-05-08-klassen.pdf
CONTACT:
Terry Klassen
University of Alberta
Director, ARCHE/EPC
Paediatrics
(780) 407-7084
(780) 407-8538 (fax)
terry.klassen@ualberta.ca
Journal
PLoS Medicine