THYROID FUNCTION TESTS IN PATIENTS ON LONG‐TERM TREATMENT WITH VARIOUS ANTICONVULSANT DRUGS

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Abstract
Thyroid function tests were studied in patients undergoing long-term treatment with various anticonvulsant drugs. Previous reports that diphenylhydantoin induces a decrease in the serum concentrations of total and free thyroxine (T4) and triodothyronine (T3) without a change in the TSH [thyrotropin] concentration were confirmed. Diphenylhydantoin had no effect on reverse T3. Carbamazepine decreased serum T4, the free T4 index and T3 but, with the exception of T3, the decrease was smaller than that induced by diphenylhydantoin. Dipropylacetic acid did not influence the serum thyroid hormone concentrations, and neither did primidone. The interaction between anticonvulsant drugs of different chemical structure and thyroid hormone metabolism is diverse. None of the drugs tested altered serum TSH or the T3 uptake test for the estimation of unsaturated thyroid hormone binding-capacity in serum. These 2 tests are considered diagnostically more dependable than the measurement of thyroid hormones in serum when diphenylhydantoin and carbamazepine are administered.