One of the most common disorders that affect brain is epilepsy. More than 30% of epileptic patients have to undergo long term therapy with antiepileptic drugs (AED). Studies show an increase in mortality in symptomatic epileptic patients due to ischemic heart disease and acute cardiac failure. The mechanism behind the role of AEDs on cardiovascular diseases needs investigation. Hence the present study was designed to study the long term effect of AEDs on vascular risk factors like serum lipid profile, C-reactive protein (CRP), carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) in epileptic patients in comparison with control subjects. The study also correlated duration of the AEDs with CIMT. The results showed that carbamazepine and phenobarbitone therapies significantly increased serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and CRP but not HDL-cholesterol, Triglyceride and BMI. Patients on phenytoin and sodium valproate increased BMI but no significant change on lipid and CRP levels were observed. All the antiepileptic drugs in this study significantly increased CIMT.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Antiepileptic Drugs; Atherosclerosis; Lipids; CIMT.