title: [Menstrual pattern characteristics in female adolescents with epilepsy].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are multiple adverse effects from anti-epileptic drugs, including menstrual irregularities such as amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, gynecomastia, galactorrhea and polycystic ovary syndrome. In view of the paucity of information, the purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of menstrual disorders in female adolescents with epilepsy in a tertiary care pediatric hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Female adolescents with epilepsy, older than 9 years and with more than 1 year with epilepsy were included. Initially, pubertal stage was identified. During 6 months, menstrual patterns were assessed. Among those with detected menstrual disorders, a hormonal profile and gynecological ultrasound were performed. Statistical analysis was descriptive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  24 patients with a median of 13 years of age; 40 % with overweight or obesity. Most received more than two anti-epileptic drugs. Sixteen patients (66.6 %) had one or more menstrual disorders: 10 had menorrhagia, 6 polymenorrhea, 6 dysmenorrhea, 4 opsomenorrhea; 4 had primary amenorrhea and 1 secondary amenorrhea. There were four patients with hyperprolactinemia and three with hypothyroidism. Evolution time and treatment of epilepsy, as well as the number of anti-epileptic drugs were higher among those with menstrual disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high frequency of menstrual disorders in female adolescents with epilepsy should be taken into account as part of the comprehensive treatment of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Ginecología Pediátrica, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Distrito Federal, México. miguel.villasis@imss.gob.mx.
authors.forename: Juana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Serret-Montoya
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Villasís-Keever
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ríos-Zúñiga
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Vaca
authors.forename: Jessie Nalley
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zurita-Cruz
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández-Cabezza
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
keywords: Adolescent; Epilepsy; Menstruation disturbances