Author/Authors :
Kocer, Abdulkadir Istanbul University - Istanbul Medical Faculty - Departments of Neurology , Sasmaz, Sezai Maras Faculty of Sutcu Imam University - Dermatology Department, Turkey , Ince, Nurhan Istanbul University - Istanbul Medical Faculty - The Public Health Department , Kutlar, Meltem Istanbul University - Istanbul Medical Faculty - Dermatology , Cagirici, Sultan Dr. Lufti Kirdar Kartal Teaching Hospital - Neurology Department
Abstract :
Objective: Chronic type skin reactions are defined asunwanted effects of drugs. As there are more benignconditions, skin findings related to chronic usage ofanti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) have not been studiedpreviously. In this study, we investigate the skin findingsassociated with the chronic usage of AEDs.Methods: The study was conducted in the Post,Telephone and Telegraph Training and Research Hospitalbetween May 2002 and January 2003 during a 6-monthwork period. Skin lesions were first assessedindividually, and then their correlations with AEDs wereexamined. Skin findings were then divided into skindisease groups to evaluate statistical significance. Theprevalence of skin findings occurring in 62 epileptics wascompared with that of an age-matched group of 33non-epileptics.Results: The rate of skin findings defined in theworkgroup was 85.5%, while it was 84.8% in the controlgroup. The most common skin findings were acneiformeruptions for both groups. There were no significantdifferences between the work and study group for skinfindings (p 0.05). Alopecia was the only skin conditionrelated to AED usage and it was seen in 4 patients (6.5%)using valproate (p 0.05). None of the 11 patients withinfectious skin findings were using valproate, and thatwas the only significant relationship betweenantiepileptic drugs and skin diseases (p=0.015).Conclusion: The inflammatory skin diseases were themost commonly seen problem in both patients andcontrols. The alopecia ratio with valproate usage in ourpatient group was similar to literature reports.
