If you visit PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/), a service of the National Library of Medicine, you can read summaries of studies that have tested Depakene and other forms of valproate, as well as other reports about this medication.

Here are links to some articles relevant to this subject:

Mattson RH, Cramer JA, et al. A comparison of valproate with carbamazepine for the treatment of partial seizures and secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults. New England Journal of Medicine, 327:765-771, 1992. PMID: 1298221.

Depakene and Tegretol (carbamazepine) are equally effective for treating secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults. Although other studies show that Depakene is effective for newly diagnosed partial seizures, in this study Tegretol provided better control of complex partial seizures. The side effects of these two medications are different.

Wilder BJ, Ramsay RE, Murphy JV, Karas BJ, Marquardt K, Hammond EJ. Comparison of valproic acid and phenytoin in newly diagnosed tonic-clonic seizures. Neurology 1983 Nov;33(11):1474-6. PMID: 6415511.

Depakene was slightly more effective than Dilantin in controlling generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Sato S, White BG, Penry JK, et al. Valproic acid versus ethosuximide in the treatment of absence seizures. Neurology 1982 Feb;32(2):157-63. PMID: 6798490.

Depakene and Zarontin were equally effective against both newly diagnosed and refractory absence seizures.

Read more about how to find and understand information in PubMed.