Vitamin D Deficiency in Ambulant Children on Carbamazepine or Sodium Valproate Monotherapy

Objective To assess the effect of monotherapy with Carbamazepine (CBZ) and Sodium valproate (VPA) on serum 25-OH vitamin D levels in children with epilepsy compared to controls. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Outpatient department of a tertiary-care Pediatric Neurology centre, and a nearby day-care centre and school. Study period June 2012 to May 2013 Participants Children with epilepsy aged 2 to 13 years on monotherapy with CBZ ( n =28) or VPA ( n =28) for at least 6 months; 109 age-matched controls from a nearby day-care centre and school. Results The median (IQR) values of 25 (OH) vitamin D was 18.0 ng/mL (13.7-27.3), 21.35 ng/mL (16.4 -25.2) and 30.5 ng/mL (19.1-43.7) in CBZ, VPA and control group, respectively ( P =0.008). 60.7% of patients in CBZ group and 35.7 % in VPA group had low 25 (OH) D levels (