Factors Related to Weight Changes after Valproic Acid Administration in Epileptic Children Treated with Valproic Acid / 대한간질학회지

PURPOSE: Weight gain is a common side effect of valproic acid (VPA) that leads to discontinuation in some patients, but its incidence and correlates have been rarely studied in children. This study was undertaken to investigate factors related to weight changes in children treated with VPA. METHODS: We have analyzed mean weight standard deviation score (SDS) retrospectively and interviewed 39 childhood epileptic patients attending Pusan National University Hospital on VPA monotherapy followed over 36 months. Putative risk factors including sex, age, duration of VPA administration, mean weight SDS score at diagnosis, dose of VPA administration, seizure type (generalized or partial), and etiology (idipathic or symptomatic) were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty nine children (23 boys, 16 girls) were treated with VPA monotherapy. Mean age of patients at diagnosis was 6.18+/-3.74 years, and mean weight SDS at diagnosis was 0.54+/-1.17. After the administration of VPA, mean weight SDS was significantly increased (p<0.05). Increase in mean weight SDS was significant in children with negative mean weight SDS at diagnosis, idiopathic epilepsy, partial seizure, and also significant in children below 1 year old. Mean weight SDS was well correlated with the dose of VPA administration after 18 months of VPA monotherapy (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that VPA monotherapy significantly increased body weight of patients treated for epilepsy. It will be better, if possible, combination therapy of VPA with other antiepileptic drugs (such as vigabatrin, carbamazepine, gabapentin) which can lead to weight gain.

Factors Related to Weight Changes in Epileptic Children Treated with Vigabatrin

PURPOSE: This study was undertaken to investigate factors related to weight changes in children treated with vigabatrin(VGB). METHODS: We have analyzed mean weight standard deviation scores(SDS) retrospectively and interviewed 35 childhood epileptic patients attending Pusan National University Hospital on VGB monotherapy followed over 36 months. Putative risk factors including sex, age, duration of VGB administration, mean weight SDS score at diagnosis, dose of VGB administration, seizure type (generalized or partial), and etiology(idipathic or symptomatic) were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Thirty five children(21 boys, 14 girls) were treated with VGB monotherapy. The mean age of patients at diagnosis was 3.21 +/- 4.13 years, and the mean weight SDS at diagnosis was -0.19 +/- 1.09. After the administration of VGB, the mean weight SDS was significantly increased (P0.05). CONCLUSIONS: VGB monotherapy significantly affects weight gain of patients treated for epilepsy. Strategies, such as optimizing diet and establishing an exercise routine, should be devised to help patients avoid weight gain when starting on VGB. It may be prudent to avoid, where possible, combinations of VGB with other antiepileptic drugs(such as valproate, carbamazepine gabapentin) which can lead to weight gain.