Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030305 (pancreatitis)
 16,014 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In the past 6 years, 11 children on valproic acid have developed pancreatitis in our children's hospital. Valproic acid has been used as one of the primary anticonvulsants for generalized seizures in children for the past 25 years. A literature review reveals mostly singular reports of pancreatitis over the past decade. The charts of the 11 patients with valproic acid-induced pancreatitis were reviewed. Dosage, valproic acid serum levels, duration of therapy, and concomitant medications were examined. Families were contacted by telephone to determine the formulation (brand name vs generic) of valproic acid at the time of diagnosis. Six girls and five boys were studied. The ages ranged from 4 to 16 years. Eight of 11 children presented with an acute abdomen. Unexpectedly, three children presented with a flulike illness. Serum lipase values ranged from 341 to 5576 U/L (normal range < 190 U/L). The dose of valproic acid ranged from 20 to 50 mg/kg. Serum levels ranged from 334 to 884 micromol/L (therapeutic range 350-800 micromol/L). Six of the patients were on monotherapy. Seven children were on brand-name drugs. Four of the children had an abnormal neurologic syndromic diagnosis (West syndrome, Rett syndrome, Lowe syndrome, and Angelman's syndrome). Six of the children had a history of drug allergies with a skin rash. Valproic acid was reintroduced in one child and resulted in a second episode of pancreatitis. Resolution of symptoms usually took several weeks following discontinuation of the drug. No association was found with valproic acid dosage, type of preparation, serum levels, duration of therapy, or presence of concomitant medications. Pancreatitis is a severe adverse effect of valproic acid use in children. Dose, duration of treatment, serum valproic acid levels, generic preparation, and the presence of concomitant antiepileptic drugs do not appear to be risk factors. Children with known drug sensitivity might be at risk. Lipase levels at the time of an acute abdomen or a flulike illness in epileptic children taking valproic acid can reveal early stages of pancreatitis and are recommended.
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PMID:Valproic acid-induced pancreatitis in childhood epilepsy: case series and review. 1552 53

A 12-year-old boy developed pancreatitis, complicated by a pancreatic pseudocyst, as an adverse reaction to valproic acid (VPA) treatment for epilepsy. Pancreatitis subsided within three weeks after discontinuation of VPA. The pancreatic pseudocyst was managed without surgery and resolved spontaneously in four weeks. Valproic acid was concluded to be the most probable cause, since no other explanation was found. According to the literature VPA is a rare but known cause of pancreatitis. A computer-assisted literature search revealed seven previously reported cases of VPA-induced pancreatitis complicated by a pancreatic pseudocyst. Six of these patients were under 20 years of age. Four patients were treated conservatively; three needed cystostomy or external drainage. All patients recovered. Patients using VPA, especially children, presenting with acute abdominal pain should be suspected of valproic acid-induced pancreatitis. If VPA induced pancreatitis is complicated by a pseudocyst, conservative treatment should be the first line of treatment.
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PMID:Pancreatitis, complicated by a pancreatic pseudocyst associated with the use of valproic acid. 1584 73

Valproic acid (VPA) is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug and is usually well tolerated, but rare serious complications may occur in some patients receiving VPA chronically, including haemorrhagic pancreatitis, bone marrow suppression, VPA-induced hepatotoxicity (VHT) and VPA-induced hyperammonaemic encephalopathy (VHE). Some data suggest that VHT and VHE may be promoted by carnitine deficiency. Acute VPA intoxication also occurs as a consequence of intentional or accidental overdose and its incidence is increasing, because of use of VPA in psychiatric disorders. Although it usually results in mild central nervous system depression, serious toxicity and even fatal cases have been reported. Several studies or isolated clinical observations have suggested the potential value of oral L-carnitine in reversing carnitine deficiency or preventing its development as well as some adverse effects due to VPA. Carnitine supplementation during VPA therapy in high-risk patients is now recommended by some scientific committees and textbooks, especially paediatricians. L-carnitine therapy could also be valuable in those patients who develop VHT or VHE. A few isolated observations also suggest that L-carnitine may be useful in patients with coma or in preventing hepatic dysfunction after acute VPA overdose. However, these issues deserve further investigation in controlled, randomized and probably multicentre trials to evaluate the clinical value and the appropriate dosage of L-carnitine in each of these conditions.
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PMID:Science review: carnitine in the treatment of valproic acid-induced toxicity - what is the evidence? 1627 30

Valproic acid (VPA) is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug and is usually well-tolerated. Rare serious complications may occur in some patients, including haemorrhagic pancreatitis, bone marrow suppression, VPA-induced hepatotoxicity and VPA-induced encephalopathy. The typical signs of VPA-induced encephalopathy are impaired consciousness, sometimes marked EEG background slowing, increased seizure frequency, with or without hyperammonemia. There is still no proof of causative effect of VPA in patients with encephalopathy, but only of an association with an assumed causal relation. We report 19 patients with VPA-associated encephalopathy in Germany from the years 1994 to 2003, none of whom had been published previously.
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PMID:Valproic acid induced encephalopathy--19 new cases in Germany from 1994 to 2003--a side effect associated to VPA-therapy not only in young children. 1678 50

Valproic acid (VPA) is a commonly used medication approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorders. Adverse effects associated with VPA are typically benign, but there are more serious effects that are less frequent. These effects include hepatotoxicity, teratogenicity, possible polycystic ovaries with a potential sterile effect and acute pancreatitis. Even though acute pancreatitis is an adverse effect of very low frequency, it is very important due to the high mortality rate of patients with acute pancreatitis as a consequence of the use of valproic acid. In medical literature, by 2005, 80 cases of acute pancreatitis caused by valproic acid were reported, 33 of these cases were patients under the age of 18. This is a description of the clinical case of a 16 year old patient with necrotic pancreatitis caused by VPA, who was treated at the Acute Pancreatitis Unit of Edgardo Rebagliati Martins National Hospital.
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PMID:[Sodium valproate as a cause of acute pancreatitis: a case report]. 1705 27

Valproic acid (VPA) is considered to be a drug of first choice for the therapy of generalized and focal epilepsies, including special epileptic syndromes like the WEST-syndrome. The drug is usually well tolerated; rare serious complications may occur in some patients, including haemorrhagic pancreatitis, coagulapathies, bone marrow suppression, VPA-induced hepatotoxicity and encephalopathy. We report a case of combined appearance of several severe VPA-associated side effects in a two- and a half-year-old girl with lissencephaly.
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PMID:Reversible hepatotoxicity, pancreatitis, coagulation disorder and simultaneous bone marrow suppression with valproate in a 2-year-old girl. 1749 39

Acute pancreatitis is rarely seen in children, and it is often drug induced. Valproic acid (VPA) is one of the most widely used anticonvulsants for children all over the world. We present 11-year-old boy developing pancreatitis after 6 months of therapy with VPA. The symptoms of pancreatitis subsided within 2 weeks after discontinuation of VPA. It seems that the prognosis of VPA-associated acute pancreatitis depends on early diagnosis, timely withdrawal of the offending agent and the treatment.
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PMID:Acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis due to the use of valproic acid in a child. 1788 Dec 58

Valproic acid (VPA) is considered to be a drug of first choice and one of the most frequently-prescribed antiepileptic drugs worldwide for the therapy of generalized and focal epilepsies, including special epileptic. It is a broad-spectrum antiepileptic drug and is usually well tolerated. Rarely, serious complications may occur in some patients, including hemorrhagic pancreatitis, coagulopathies, bone marrow suppression, VPA-induced hepatotoxicity and encephalopathy, but there is still a lack of knowledge about the incidence and occurrence of these special side effects. Additionally, the consequences for VPA therapy and indication are more or less unclear. By literature review and own data this review addresses some of the challenges of VPA therapy and its side effects, which are not unique to epilepsy in childhood.
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PMID:Oral valproic acid for epilepsy--long-term experience in therapy and side effects. 1820 Nov 50

Valproic acid (VPA) is considered to be a drug of first choice for the therapy of generalized and focal epilepsies, including special epileptic syndromes. The drug is usually well tolerated, rare serious complications may occur in some patients, including hemorrhagic pancreatitis, coagulapathies, bone marrow suppression, VPA-induced hepatotoxicity and encephalopathy. We report a case of VPA-associated encephalopathy without hyperammonemia in a 3-year-old girl with Pallister-Killian-Syndrom, combined with a mild hepatopathy and thrombopathy. After withdrawal of VPA, the clinical symptoms and the electroencephalography-alterations vanished rapidly.
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PMID:Valproate-associated reversible encephalopathy in a 3-year-old girl with Pallister-Killian syndrome. 1882 62

A 4.5 years old male with myoclonic epilepsy on Valproic acid (VPA) monotherapy, developed an acute pancreatitis. The discontinuation of VPA and substitution with Levetiracetam was followed by clinical improvement but a relapse of the pancreatitis was noted one month later. The investigation excluded a structural abnormality but revealed a heterozygous CTFR mutation. The contribution of the CTFR mutation on this VPA-induced recurrent pancreatitis cannot be ignored.
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PMID:VPA-induced recurrent pancreatitis in a cystic fibrosis carrier. 2177 93


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