Effects of Antiepileptic Drugs on the Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness in Epileptic Patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE It has been reported that taking antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may increase the risk of atherosclerosis. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the carotid artery intima-media thickness (CA-IMT) as a surrogate factor for atherosclerosis in epileptic patients. METHODS We searched NCBI (PubMed), ISI Web of Knowledge, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases for studies of the association between AEDs and CA-IMT in epileptic patients. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool results across studies. RESULTS Fifteen studies involving 1,775 epileptic patients were included in the analysis. The overall CA-IMT was significantly larger among users of AEDs [mean difference (MD)=0.09 mm, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.06-0.12 mm). When stratified by age, the MD was similar in adult patients (MD=0.09 mm, 95% CI=0.06-0.13 mm), but no significant difference was observed in children (MD=0.03 mm, 95% CI=0.00-0.07 mm). Regarding specific AEDs, monotherapy with carbamazepine (CBZ) or valproic acid (VPA) was associated with a larger CA-IMT, while phenytoin monotherapy was not and the result for lamotrigine was inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that using AEDs is associated with the CA-IMT in patients with epilepsy, particularly for adult patients. In particular, CBZ and VPA may be related to a significant increase in CA-IMT.