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Clinical Outcomes in Newer Anticonvulsant Overdose: A Poison Center Observational Study

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Abstract

Clinicians have limited experience with assessment and treatment of overdose from newer anticonvulsant medications. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate clinical effects of newer anticonvulsant overdose, determine if a relationship exists between dose and clinical effect, and if a particular agent appears more toxic in overdose. This was a retrospective study using electronic poison center data, evaluating clinical outcomes from newer anticonvulsant overdose. The Toxicall™ database from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2011 was queried using key words: “gabapentin,” “lamotrigine,” “levetiracetam,” “tiagabine,” “topiramate,” “zonisamide,” “pregabalin,” and “oxcarbazine.” Polypharmacy overdose and children less than 15 years of age were excluded. Charts were reviewed by two abstractors for pharmaceutical, self-reported dose, clinical effect score, and clinical signs, symptoms, and vital signs recorded in the chart. Ordinal logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between drug type, dose, age, and sex to clinical effect score. Out of 501 cases identified, 347 met the final inclusion criteria. There were 116 gabapentin, 67 lamotrigine, 15 levetiracetam, 15 tiagabine, 56 topiramate, 23 pregabalin, and 55 oxcarbazepine cases. Overdose of newer anticonvulsants frequently results in altered mental status. Seizures may be more common with tiagabine, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine. There was one death reported from intentional overdose of topiramate. An information index was created to rank drug toxicity based on reported signs and symptoms for each overdose. There was no significant effect of dose on severity of outcome (β = 0.12, p = 0.23). However, the risk of a more severe outcome score was significantly increased with tiagabine relative to other drugs (β = 2.8, p = 0.001). Lamotrigine ranked highest in terms of toxicity (HT = 1.66) and number of interventions performed (HI = 1.17), and levetiracetam the lowest (HT = 0.98; HI = 0.88). We could not identify a dose-effect in these data which likely reflects the limitations of self-reported doses. Despite limitations of these data, the risk of more severe outcome scores appear to be higher with tiagabine overdose while lamotrigine overdose appears to result in more reported signs, symptoms, and interventions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Clinical Toxicology, VCU Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA

    Brandon Wills, Eileen Chu, Kirk Cumpston, Paul Stromberg & Rutherfoord Rose

  2. Virginia Poison Center, Richmond, VA, USA

    Brandon Wills, Kirk Cumpston, Paul Stromberg & Rutherfoord Rose

  3. Department of Emergency Medicine, VCU Medical Center, Richmond, VA, USA

    Brandon Wills, Penny Reynolds, Eileen Chu, Kirk Cumpston, Paul Stromberg & Rutherfoord Rose

  4. Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Christine Murphy

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  1. Brandon Wills
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  2. Penny Reynolds
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  3. Eileen Chu
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  4. Christine Murphy
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Correspondence to Brandon Wills.

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Wills, B., Reynolds, P., Chu, E. et al. Clinical Outcomes in Newer Anticonvulsant Overdose: A Poison Center Observational Study. J. Med. Toxicol. 10, 254–260 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-014-0384-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-014-0384-5

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