Abstracts

Rationale: Bone density has been shown to be adversely affected by long-term use of hepatic enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (EI-AEDs). We sought to evaluate bone density in a population of epilepsy patients in a sunny climate. Methods: The lumbar spine and hip bone density of otherwise healthy adult ambulatory epilepsy patients with long-term epilepsy consecutively seen in an epilepsy clinic for uninsured patients were evaluated using the same DEXA machine. Statistics used were descriptive and partial correlations. Results: Ninety-seven patients were evaluated; 64% were women, 87% were Hispanic and 85% were white. The mean age was 46 years (range 23-72) and mean age of epilepsy onset was 16 years (range 0-58). Sixty-two percent of patients had taken phenytoin for a mean of 19 years (range 1-62), 61% had taken carbamazepine for a mean of 17 years (range 1-41), 43% had taken phenobarbital for a mean of 15 years (range 1-41). No correlation with use of these EI-AEDs and bone density at any site, when adjusting for the effect of age, was found. Further, no correlation with the use of these EI-AEDS for more than 10 years, or with age greater than 50 years, and bone density at any site, when adjusting for the effect of age, was found. Increased age, but not gender, was the only variable associated with decreased bone density. One person reported a lifetime fracture, which was non-seizure related, in the upper extremity. Conclusions: No discernable effect of EI-AEDs on bone density was found in this cross-sectional study. This may be due, in part, to a protective effect of the sunny climate in South Florida.