SEVERE HEPATOTOXICITY DURING VALPROATE THERAPY - AN UPDATE AND REPORTOF 8 NEW FATALITIES

Since our last report on valproate (VPA)related hepatotoxicity in 1988 , 8 other children have died of VPA-associated liver failure in German y and Switzerland. We compared the clinical course of these children w ith that of 6 children with a reversible outcome of severe hepatotoxic ity related to VPA. Thirty-five percent of patients with fatal liver f ailure were normally developed, 23.5% were receiving VPA monotherapy, and 35.3% were aged less than or equal to 2 years. The initial clinica l symptoms of VPA-related hepatotoxicity were nausea, vomiting, apathy or coma, and increasing seizures in more than 50% of patients, in com bination with febrile infections at onset of symptoms. As compared wit h the series of German patients reported in 1988, one third of the fat alities occurred after the first 6 months of therapy as compared with 6% in the 1988 series. Clinical symptoms and laboratory findings were the same in patients with reversible and with fatal outcome. Early or immediate withdrawal of VPA after the first signs of VPA-associated he patotoxicity may be responsible for the increased number of children w ho recovered after VPA-related severe liver failure. The pathogenesis of liver failure during VPA treatment remains unknown; metabolic defec ts and cofactors such as polypharmacy or infections have become increa singly likely to contribute by depleting intracellular CoA. Worldwide, 132 patients have died of VPA-associated liver failure and/or pancrea titis. Because a group at risk for fatalities with VPA cannot be defin ed precisely, patients treated with VPA and their families must be mad e well aware of the clinical symptoms of hepatotoxicity such as apathy , vomiting, or increased seizure frequency, especially in the presence of febrile infections. Laboratory tests and clinical controls during the first 6 months of therapy should not be neglected.