title: Antiepileptic drug-induced osteopenia in ambulatory epileptic children receiving a standard vitamin D3 supplement.
abstract: Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is a non-invasive, rapid, accurate and highly reproducible method for the assessment of antiepileptic drug (AED)-induced osteopenia in epileptic children. In this study, we investigated bone mineral density (BMD) using DEXA in 56 epileptic children receiving long-term AED treatment for at least 2 years. All children received AED monotherapy or polytherapy plus a standard vitamin D3 supplement (400 U/day). BMD measurements were made from lumbar spine (L2-L4) regions. Age- and sex-specific BMD SD scores were calculated for each child. Osteopenia was defined as SD scores less than -1.5. There was no significant difference in mean BMD values between epileptic children receiving monotherapy or polytherapy. The results were also compared to the age- and sex-specific BMD SD scores obtained from healthy Turkish children. Only three patients (5%) receiving AED therapy had a BMD SD score less than -1.5. This rate is relatively lower than the rates of previous studies conducted on ambulatory children on long-term AED treatment without vitamin D3 supplementation.
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey. htekgul@med.ege.edu.tr
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tekgul
authors.forename: Gulsen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dizdarer
authors.forename: Nilgun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Cihat
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Sarenur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tutuncuoglu
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000139:chemically induced*; D002648:Child; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014421:Turkey
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D002762:Cholecalciferol