Postictal serum levels of antiepileptic drugs for detection of noncompliance.
Epilepsy Behav
; 4(5): 487-95, 2003 Oct.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-14527489
Medication noncompliance (NC) is thought to be a major cause of insufficient seizure control. In an explorative study we investigated whether postictal serum levels (PISLs) of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are a reliable indicator of NC. Young adults with epilepsy on a stable AED regimen were asked to contact medical service as soon as possible when a seizure occurred to obtain serum levels of their AEDs. PISLs were compared with the mean value of two routine serum levels of the same medication. PISLs lower than 50% of the individual reference value were regarded as an indicator of NC. PISL samples in 61 seizures of 52 patients treated mainly with carbamazepine, valproic acid, or lamotrigine were evaluated. A drop in serum levels >50% indicating NC was noted in 44.3% of the seizures. Determination of PISLs seems to be a simple and useful method for detecting or ruling out irregular intake patterns as a cause of "breakthrough" seizures.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Convulsões
/
Recusa do Paciente ao Tratamento
/
Anticonvulsivantes
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2003
Tipo de documento:
Article