Abstract
Introduction
Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a common antiepileptic drug that may cause overdoses with seizures
as a common neurological manifestation. In previous reports, patients with CBZ overdose
exhibited stimulus-induced generalized clinical or electrical seizures. To date, no
previous cases of focal motor seizures have been reported.
Case report
We report the case of an 11-year-old girl with spontaneous and stimulus-induced clustering
of focal motor seizures following CBZ overdose. The patient had been treated with
CBZ (150 mg daily) for focal epilepsy since the age of six years. At the age of 11,
she forgot to take a morning dose, took ten CBZ pills (CBZ 1000 mg) as compensation,
and presented with generalized seizures. The patient arrived at the hospital in a
coma. She demonstrated clustering of focal-to-bilateral tonic-clonic seizures induced
by pain stimulus or spontaneously, with focal epileptiform discharges observed on
EEG. Her CBZ blood concentration measured 40.4 μg/mL and she was diagnosed with CBZ
overdose. The patient showed improvement without any specific treatment, and was later
discharged without neurological sequelae.
Conclusion
Previous cases of CBZ overdose with stimulus-induced generalized seizures resulted
in death or required intensive care. Stimulus-induced focal seizures may indicate
a favorable prognosis for CBZ overdose.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
CBZ (carbamazepine), EEG (electroencephalography)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: July 06, 2022
Accepted:
June 23,
2022
Received in revised form:
June 10,
2022
Received:
April 13,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
