Abstracts

Rationale: Epidemiological studies have found an increased risk for heart disease and stroke in persons with epilepsy. Epilepsy patients using enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs are in some studies shown to have higher cholesterol than controls. We wanted to study some of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease (cholesterol, obesity and smoking) in men and women with epilepsy using carbamazepine (CBZ), levetiracetam (LEV) or lamotrigine (LTG) in monotherapy, and compare with a group of healthy controls. Methods: 90 female and 122 male patients were included, together with 80 controls (44 females, 36 males). They were within an age range of 18 to 45 years, and came from Norway and Austria. They had been treated with LEV (24 females, 28 males), CBZ (27 females, 60 males) or LTG (39 females, 34 males) as monotherapy for at least 6 months. Cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured. BMI was calculated. Smoking, drinking habits and physical activity were recorded. Results: Both men and women using CBZ had higher cholesterol than controls (men: 5.3mmol/l vs 4.4mmol/l. Women: 5.5mmol/l vs 4.3mmol/l)(p<0.001 for both).LDL and HDL was also significantly higher in CBZ treated men and women. Women on CBZ had higher BMI than the control group. Women using LEV had higher cholesterol than controls (4.7mmol/l vs. 4.3mmol/l)(p=0.024), but no differences were seen regarding LDL or HDL and no differences were seen in males using LEV. BMI was not different between LEV and controls. Men using LTG had slightly higher cholesterol than controls (4.9 mmol/l vs. 4.4mmol/l)(p=0.036). No other differences were seen in LTG treated patients, except from BMI that was slightly higher in LTG treated women. Smoking was equally distributed among patients and controls. Alcohol use was more frequent among the controls, and the controls were more physically active than the patients.