Effects of high-dose antiepileptic drugs on event-related potentials in epileptic children

Enoki, Hideo; Sanada, Satoshi; Oka, Eiji; Ohtahara, Shunsuke

Next »Epilepsy Research
Volume 25, Issue 1 , Pages 59-64, September 1996

Effects of high-dose antiepileptic drugs on event-related potentials in epileptic children

Department of Child Neurology, Okayama University Medical School, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Okayama 700, Japan

Received 20 March 1996; received in revised form 10 April 1996; accepted 27 April 1996.

Abstract

N200 and P300 of event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 22 epileptic children receiving high-dose antiepileptic drugs. The patients were undergoing monotherapy with supratherapeutic serum level and were not mentally retarded. P300 latency was prolonged in 5 of 8 patients (62.5%) of the carbamazepine (CBZ) group and in 4 of 7 patients (57.1%) of the phenytoin (PHT) group. Only one child of the PHT group showed abnormality in brain-stem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs). Abnormality of P300 was more frequent than that of BAEP. In patients of the PHT group who underwent examinations consecutively before and after changing the dose, P300 latency was prolonged rapidly when the PHT level exceeded 30 μg/ml. This suggested that the prolongation was dose dependent. In all patients of the valproic acid (VPA) group, P300 latency was normal. Only 2 patients of the PHT group had P300 prolongation simultaneously with clinical signs of intoxication. Others demonstrated changes in P300 without symptoms of side effects.

Keywords: Event-related potential, Epilepsy, Cognition, Anticonvulsant, Drug-induced abnormality

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