ABSTRACT
Carbamazepine [CBZ] is mostly considered as the first line of effective treatment against simple or complex partial seizure and primary-secondary generalization. To prevent side-effects related to higher amount of CBZ minimum concentration [C[0]] in body fluid or seizure attacks associated to lower amount of CBZ-C[0], the suggested minimum therapeutic concentrations range from 4 to 12 ng/ml [according to previous publications]. The aim of this preliminarily study was to investigate the scope of discrepancy associated to the C[0] of CBZ in patients visited Isfahan Epileptic Clinic. A cross-sectional study of 22 patients located in neurology ward of Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre [INRC] was carried out between April 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. Female [n = 9] and male subjects [n = 13] with a mean age of 27.4 years [range; 16-38 years] were studied. Pharmacological [CBZ-C[0]] and demographical variables were recorded and processed in excel. The results of CBZ-C[0] showed wide inter-individual variability. The mean value of CBZ-C[0] was 7.2 ng/ml. In 10 out of 22 patients, CBZ-C[0] were lower than the suggested therapeutic window [4-12 ng/ml]. CBZ-C[0] in nine patients was non-detectable and in one patient was 0.5 ng/ml [45% <4 ng/ml]. In 55% of the patients, CBZ-C[0] ranged from 4.8 to 12 ng/ml. A schedule therapeutic drug monitoring based on measurement of CBZ-C[0] for individual patient could be a practical marker to achieve therapeutic objectives. Further study related to correlating of CBZC[0] to clinical events in Iranian Epileptic population seems to be valuable