Retinal nerve fiber layer and macular thickness in adolescents with epilepsy treated with valproate and carbamazepine.

PURPOSE: To evaluate retinal nerve retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular thickness by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in epileptic adolescents before and during monotherapy with valproic acid (VPA) and carbamazepine (CBZ).

METHODS: We examined prospectively 45 epilepsy patients with partial and generalized epilepsy. The patients were evaluated before the beginning of therapy and after 1 year of VPA or CBZ monotherapy. Forty-five untreated healthy controls were evaluated at baseline and after 1 year.

RESULTS: At the beginning of the study, the two groups of patients showed RNFL and macular thickness measurements similar to control values. At the end of the follow-up, the data of the three groups were similar to baseline, showing no significant differences in the evaluated parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrates that no modification of RNFL and macular thickness parameters is found after 1 year of treatment with VPA and CBZ monotherapy.