Do patients presenting to accident and emergency departments have low serum anticonvulsant concentrations?

It is often felt that poorly controlled epileptic patients, who are taking anticonvulsant medication, are over represented in A&E departments compared to the general population. This A&E based study set out to determine whether such patients do have inadequate serum anticonvulsant levels, wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of emergency medicine 1991-03, Vol.8 (1), p.41-44
Main Authors: Snow, D G, Jackson, S H, Skinner, D, Burton, R M, Williams, A H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Anticonvulsants - blood
Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use
Epilepsy - blood
Epilepsy - drug therapy
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
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Summary:It is often felt that poorly controlled epileptic patients, who are taking anticonvulsant medication, are over represented in A&E departments compared to the general population. This A&E based study set out to determine whether such patients do have inadequate serum anticonvulsant levels, when they present following a seizure, to A&E departments. All epileptic patients, taking medication, who presented to the A&E departments of St. Bartholomew's and Hackney Hospitals, London, over a 4-month period were studied. Serum anticonvulsant concentrations were measured on their arrival in the departments. Forty-six patients were studied. Only 21% of anticonvulsant drug concentrations were within 'therapeutic' ranges. A total of 66% were below 'therapeutic' ranges and 13% were potentially toxic. The implication of these findings is discussed.
ISSN:0264-4924
1472-0205
1472-0213
DOI:10.1136/emj.8.1.41