Changes in the first anti-seizure medication prescribed for children and adolescents with epilepsy in a tertiary clinical center in Serbia over two decades

Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of the use of new anti-seizure medications and valproate in the female population over two decades. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective ob-servational cross-sectional study of medical records of children and adolescents (4 - 19 years old) with newly diagnosed epilepsy in a tertiary clinical center in Serbia from 1997 to 1999 and 2017 to 2019. Results: The sta-tistical analysis revealed significant changes in the treatment of generalized and focal seizures and all etiologies of epilepsy. Val-proate use in the adolescent girl population decreased significantly from 2017 to 2019. Conclusion: The prescription pattern of the initial anti-seizure medication changed sig-nificantly over the two decades. The results correspond to current guidelines and rec-ommendations.