The Effect of Oxcarbazepine on Thyroid Hormone Levels in Epileptic Patients

Background: patients with epilepsy need long-term anti-seizure medication; several studies ‌found that anti-seizure medication affects endocrine function, including the thyroid gland.‌Aim of the study: Assess the impact of Oxcarbazepine therapy on thyroid function test outcomes in epilepsy patients on Oxcarbazepine therapy.Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted at Baghdad Teaching Hospital‌, including 65 patients with epilepsy who used oxcarbazepine as a mono-antiepileptic drug. ‌The epidemiological data include the type of epilepsy (focal), ‌duration of the disease, duration of treatment, dosage of treatment, thyroid stimulating ‌hormone (TSH), thyroxin (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) levels were tested.‌Results: The study group showed notable associations between the length and dosage of oxcarbazepine treatment and thyroid function level. ‌Conclusion: There is a significant difference in TSH, T3, and T4 levels ‌in patients receiving oxcarbazepine as monotherapy in correlation to its duration of use ‌and to its dose; in the analysis, the correlation observed is in duration >5 years and dosage ‌‌>600mg/day.‌