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NEUROLOGY 1981;31:1047
© 1981 American Academy of Neurology

Pharmacology of valproic acid in children with severe epilepsy

Clearance and hepatotoxicity

W. Edwin Dodson, M.D. and Valann Tasch, R.N., M.S.N.

Departments of Neurology and Neurological Surgery (Neurology) and the Edward Mallinckrodt Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, and the Division of Pediatric Neurology, St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Louis, MO.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Dodson, St. Louis Children's Hospital, 500 S. Kingshighway, P.O. Box 14871, St. Louis, MO 63178.

Valproic acid concentrations correlate with dose in children when sampling times are consistent. Both interpatient variability and average clearance of valproic acid are inversely related to age. Young children usually need higher doses to achieve the same blood levels as other patients, but the levels that result from a dose are less predictable from one child to the next. Whereas valproic acid therapy had little effect on the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), 12% of patients had abnormal SGOTs during an average of 14 months' therapy. The abnormal SGOTs from patients without serious hepatic dysfunction overlap many of the abnormal values in cases of fatal hepatic failure associated with valproic acid.




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 J Child NeurolHome page
D. L. Hurst
The Rapid Change to Monotherapy With Valproic Acid in Children
J Child Neurol, October 1, 1993; 8(4): 357 - 359.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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