Verma 2006.
| Methods | Randomised clinical trial. Single centre in India. Duration of trial 2 to 3.5 years in two groups. |
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| Participants | 227 people with NCC, 206 randomised. Inclusion criteria: people with epilepsy with CT Scan criteria of Del Brutto et al. Only people with complete resolution of lesion at 3 to 6 months CT scan or presence of calcified residua included. Exclusion criteria: persistent lesions on repeat CT scan at 3 to 6.months interval. Mean age 21.8 ± 6.1 years in group A, 19.5 ± 8.8 years in group B. Gender distribution in two groups comparable. Seizure type, duration at randomisation and frequency comparable in the two groups. Follow‐up for a minimum of 18 months after drug withdrawal. |
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| Interventions | AEDs for 6 months in Group A and 24 months in Group B. 176 people treated with carbamazepine (600 to 1000 mg/day). 51 people treated with phenytoin (300 to 400 mg/day). |
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| Outcomes | Seizure recurrence during and after withdrawal of AED. Severe side effects to AED. Correlation of seizure recurrence with CT scan finding in follow‐up scans. |
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| Notes | ||
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Low risk | Simple random sampling by coin toss method |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Unclear risk | Authors do not detail the conduct of the coin toss and wether result of the coin toss was visible to the researchers or participants |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes | High risk | Not stated |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes | Unclear risk | Not stated |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Low risk | Number of people lost to follow‐up in both groups and number of people completing study mentioned in table 1 |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Low risk | Study protocol not available, no differences between planned and reported outcomes evident |
| Other bias | Low risk | Insufficient evidence to suggest risk of bias |
AED: antiepileptic drug CT: computed tomography EEG: electroencephalography NCC: neurocysticercosis