Objective

Scarce data are available regarding the proportion of drugs that have provoked new-onset seizures. The aim of this study was to investigate the types of causative drugs of drug-induced new-onset seizures in a relatively large population of patients who were admitted to our epilepsy monitoring unit.

Methods

Using a hospital-based database, patients with new-onset seizures were selected and the underlying etiology of new-onset seizures was reviewed. Based on the etiologic conditions, acute symptomatic seizure was classified into 7 groups of provocation factors: drug, alcohol, encephalitis, stroke, hypoxic injury, metabolic, and unclassified. Causative drugs for new-onset seizures were further investigated.

Results

Altogether, 363 patients with new-onset seizures were reviewed in this study. The most common cause of new-onset seizures was epilepsy, followed by syncope, acute symptomatic seizure, and others. Drugs were found to be the most common provocation factor for acute symptomatic seizures. The most common causative drug was antihistamine, followed by stimulants, antibiotics, and other drugs. Most patients with antihistamine-induced seizures had normal renal function and were under treatment at the therapeutic dose.

Conclusion

In our population, antihistamine accounted for the highest proportion of drug-induced seizures. Considering that antihistamines are widely used as over-the-counter drugs around the world, they should be considered a possible cause of new-onset seizures.

中文翻译：

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抗组胺药是新发癫痫发作的常见原因：单中心观察性研究

目的

关于引起新发作的药物比例的数据很少。这项研究的目的是调查在我们的癫痫监测部门收治的相对大量患者中，药物诱发的新发作性癫痫病的致病药物类型。

方法

使用基于医院的数据库，选择新发癫痫发作的患者，并回顾新发癫痫发作的潜在病因。根据病因，将急性症状性发作分为7类激发因素：药物，酒精，脑炎，中风，缺氧性损伤，代谢和未分类。进一步研究了新发作癫痫的致病药物。

结果

本研究共对363例新发作的癫痫患者进行了回顾。新发癫痫发作的最常见原因是癫痫病，其次是晕厥，急性症状性癫痫发作等。发现药物是急性症状性发作的最常见激发因素。最常见的致病药物是抗组胺药，其次是兴奋剂，抗生素和其他药物。大多数抗组胺药引起的癫痫发作患者的肾功能正常，正在接受治疗剂量的治疗。

结论

在我们的人群中，抗组胺药在药物性癫痫发作中所占比例最高。考虑到抗组胺药在世界范围内广泛用作非处方药，应将其视为可能引起新发作的癫痫发作。