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Severe, isolated thrombocytopenia under polytherapy with carbamazepine and valproate
Author(s) -
Finsterer Josef,
Pelzl Georg,
Hess Barbara
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1819.2001.00885.x
Subject(s) - carbamazepine , discontinuation , medicine , anticonvulsant , epilepsy , valproic acid , pediatrics , anesthesia , platelet , psychiatry
It is not known whether polytherapy with carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproate (VPA) increases the risk of thrombocytopenia. A 67‐year‐old woman with symptomatic epilepsy since age 6 years, classified as Lennox–Gasteau syndrome, developed severe, isolated thrombocytopenia of 5 GIGA/L (normal: 150–360 GIGA/L) after being on CBZ (1200 mg/day) for 15 days and additional VPA (300 mg/day) for 5 days in combination. After discontinuation of CBZ and VPA and two thrombocyte transfusions, the thrombocyte count normalized within 3 days. Because she had been taking VPA for only 5 days in addition to CBZ, it could not be confirmed whether it was CBZ alone or the combination of CBZ and VPA that was responsible for the severe thrombocytopenia.