Tehran University Medical Journal

Background and Aim: Due to the increased usage of carbamazepine, phenytoin and Sodium Valproate, a higher number of intoxication is to be expected. The aim of this Study is demographic evaluation of this agents.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional survey we studied 93 patients who were poisoned with these drugs from July 2003 until July 2004, in Loghman Hakeem hospital, Tehran, Iran.

Results: In this study we found these results: 36.6 % were male and 63.4 % of patients were female mean age of patients were about 24.5 y. twenty nine present (29) % were routinely on these drugs. Mean time between consumption and admission was 6 hours and 56% of them had decreased level of consciousness and 90% had high serum level of drugs. 80% of them showed complications such as respiratory distress, Urinary tract infection and etc and 4.5% of patients admitted in ICU and mortality rate was 2%

Conclusion: Results of this study are compatible with other studies and according to high prevalence of overdose with these drugs we must focus on prevention factors like education for suitable management, good care, psychiatric consult and proper Treatment.

Background: Recent studies have raised the issue of an increased incidence of polycystic ovaries (PCO) and menstrual disturbances in women with epilepsy treated with valproate (VPA). It seems that antiepileptic drugs, especially valproate, may have a functional role in altering the endocrine system of child-bearing women with epilepsy. We conducted this study to investigate the association of VPA and ovarian structural/menstrual disorders in epileptic women.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we compared a total of 64 epileptic patients, aged 16-45 years, 32 of whom had been taking VPA alone and 32 were on other antiepileptic drugs for a minimum duration of six months. Ovarian sonography was performed and body mass index (BMI) calculated for all subjects. We also recorded the presence of menstrual disturbances in both groups.

Results: Fifteen (46%) of the VPA subjects had PCO compared to 7 (21.9%) of the other group. In the VPA group, four (12.5%) had oligomenorrhea, one (3.1%) amenorrhea and 13 (40.6%) had irregular menstrual cycles. However, from the other group, two (6.3%) subjects had oligomenorrhea and seven (21.9%) had irregular menstrual cycles amenorrhea was not present in the non-VPA treated patients. Mean BMI was 22.5 kg/m² among the VPA subjects and 20.1 kg/m² in the non-VPA subjects.

Conclusions: This study supports the association of PCO and high BMI with VPA treatment. The frequency of menstrual disturbances did not differ significantly between the two groups.