Sodium Valproate-Induced Myopathy in a Child

Sir, An eight-year-old Saudi male child presented to the Department of Paediatric Neurology at King Fahad Military Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in May 2013. He was diagnosed with childhood onset epilepsy with absence seizures on the basis of clinical seizure semiology and classical electroencephalography findings. Baseline haematological and biochemical investigations, including serum lactate and ammonia tests, performed prior to the administration of any medication proved to be normal. The patient was subsequently started on 250 mg of sodium valproate in two divided doses (20 mg/kg). As his response to the treatment was inadequate, the dose of the medication was gradually increased over the following few weeks to the maximum permissible dose of 500 mg twice daily (40 mg/kg/day). At this dose, the absence seizures were controlled.