Current perception thresholds of epileptic patients treated with valproate.

ABSTRACT

We investigated the current perception threshold (CPT) of epileptic patients treated with valproate. The CPTs at frequencies of 5 Hz, 250 Hz and 2000 Hz in the control group of patients were 198.9 +/- 15.8, 62.0 +/- 18.9 and 35.3 +/- 15.8, respectively. The CPTs at 5 Hz, 250 Hz and 2000 Hz in the epileptic group of patients were 350.6 +/- 61.3, 338.6 +/- 64.3 and 193.2 +/- 21.1, respectively. The CPTs at 5 Hz, 250 Hz and 2000 Hz in the epileptic group were significantly higher than those of the control group. We measured the CPTs for 6 months after the administration of valproate in three patients with traumatic epilepsy. Their CPTs were higher than that of the epileptic group. The CPTs at 5 Hz, 250 Hz and 2000 Hz reached a maximum 4 weeks after the administration of valproate for two of these patients and in 6 weeks for the other patient. When the administration of valproate to a patient was stopped, CPTs decreased.