Serum lipid levels during carbamazepine therapy in epileptic children.

The aim of the study was to evaluate serum lipid levels during carbamazepine therapy in epileptic children. Thirty epileptic children (18 male, 12 female; age range, 30 months to 14 years) with idiopathic or cryptogenic partial or generalized tonic-clonic seizures (13 CPS, 17 GTC) were evaluated for serum lipids at the onset and the third month of carbamazepine therapy. Carbamazepine was started at 10 mg/kg/day. Mean total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, very low density lipoprotein, and triglyceride levels significantly increased during treatment (P < 0.05), but mean high-density lipoprotein levels were not statistically significant throughout the study. Carbamazepine treatment alters the serum lipid profile of children in such a way that it could potentially facilitate the development of atherosclerosis.