[Phosphorus-calcium metabolism in children under prolonged treatment with anticonvulsants. (II)]. / Metabolismo fosfocálcico en niños con tratamiento prolongado anticonvulsivo. (II).

Comparative assessments were made regarding the effects of prolonged administration of anticonvulsant drugs (phenobarbital, carbamazepine, valproate and polytherapy) on the different biochemical parameters related to phosphocalcium metabolism, in 98 children between 1 and 14 years. The most patent effect was on the levels of 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol which went down significantly (p = 0.0001) in children treated with phenobarbital (34.5 +/- 17 ng/ml) or polytherapy (28.4 +/- 18 ng/ml) in relation to those treated with carbamazepine (49.2 +/- 15 ng/ml) or valproate (43.1 +/- 15 ng/ml) and to control group (45.9 +/- 13 ng/ml). The alkaline phosphatase has been found significantly higher among those treated with phenobarbital, carbamazepine and polytherapy, evidencing significant differences in relation to those treated with valproate and to control group (p less than 0.05). For calcium, parathyroid hormone and osteocalcine levels no differences were found in the different drugs, nor with control group. Depending on the duration of treatment there was a significant reduction (p = 0.02) in the levels of 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol in children treated over 3 years, but no difference for calcium, phosphorous, alkaline phosphatase and PTH under this parameter.

[Phosphorus-calcium metabolism in children under long-term anticonvulsant therapy]. / Metabolismo fosfocálcico en niños con tratamiento prolongado anticonvulsivo.

The effects of prolonged administration of anticonvulsants were analyzed on different biochemical parameters related to phosphocalcium metabolism in 98 children aged 1 to 14, not affected by other chronic pathology, and to whom no Vitamin D nor other vitamin-mineral complexes had been administered. We take as reference a group of normal children studied during the same period. Determinations were accomplished with the usual chemical controls in our laboratory (autoanalysis of continuous flow, radioimmunoassay and colorimetric measurements) and the following mean levels were obtained for treated children: Calcium: 9.2 +/- 0.4 mg/dl, phosphorous: 3.5 +/- 1.9 mg/dl, alkaline phosphatase: 252 +/- 72 U/L, 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol: 35.6 +/- 18 ng/ml, Osteocalcine: 5.4 +/- 3.6 ng/ml, and parathyroid hormone: 0.4 +/- 0.1 ng/ml. These values differed significantly from those found in the control group for phosphorous, lower in children under treatment (p = 0.000), and the 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol was likewise lower (p = 0.000). In other way the mean levels of alkaline phosphatase were higher in treated children (p = 0.000). No significant differences were obtained for mean levels of calcium, parathyroid hormone and osteocalcine. These differences are maintained when distributing patients among different age groups. Solar radiation received by treated children during the months preceding the extraction, did not produce significant differences on 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol, with mean values that were similar at the end of summer (34 +/- 9 ng/ml) and the end of winter (36.6 +/- 18 ng/ml).