According to a longitudinal population-based study conducted in England, long-term use of enzyme-inducing antiseizure medications (ASMs) was associated with a greater risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with epilepsy.

Adult epilepsy patients, who were given four consecutive enzyme-inducing ASMs after 1990, were found to have a 21% higher likelihood of developing all-cause CVD over a maximum follow-up of 25 years, in comparison with epilepsy patients who were not given these drugs, reported researchers in JAMA Neurology.

A propensity-matched model, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic status as well as cardiovascular risk factors, revealed that the patients receiving enzyme-inducing ASMs had an HR of incident CVD of 1.21. The HR was similar after investigators controlled for use of lipid-lowering medication and treated dyslipidemia at baseline (HR 1.18)… (Medpage Today)