Monitoring of serum concentrations and the clinical significance on children treated with sodium valproate

Objective To investigate the changes of serum concentration of valproate sodium, an antiepileptic drug (AED) and its clinical significance in children. Methods The serum concentrations of valproate sodium in 285 children with epilepsy was monitored by Fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA). Results 130 cases (45.61 %) were 50μg .mL-1,145 (50.88 %) were with the range of 50~100μg .mL-1 and 10 (3.51 %) were 100μg ·mL-1 in serum concent ration of valproate sodium. Conclusions There are great individual differences among patient's in serum concent ration of valproate sodium. Monitoring of the serum concentration of valproate sodium is of great importance in guiding reasonable clinical drug use. It is advisable to adopt individualized administration scheme according to serum drug concentration.