title: Antiepileptic therapy with phenytoin: which is the optimum serum level?
abstract: 114 patients suffering from generalized grand mal seizures were treated with phenytoin only. Serum-phenytoin was monitored, and its relation to the frequency of attacks was established in each case, observing steady state periods of at least 3 months' duration. In a group of 44 patients the reduction in pretreatment frequency of attacks was used to evaluate the drug effect. The probability of attacks followed an exponential function of serum-phenytoin. Curves of equal probability for further attacks were plotted: they may assist in determining the initial regimen. However, the high variability in responsiveness during a serum-phenytoin below 10 mg/l suggested that the effective level has to be determined separately and repeatedly for every single patient.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010672:Phenytoin / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011336:Probability
chemical_list: D010672:Phenytoin