366
Views
3
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
CASE REPORTS

Seizure Management in a Complex Hospice Patient

&
Pages 27-32 | Accepted 01 Dec 2009, Published online: 26 Mar 2010
 

ABSTRACT

Antiepileptic medication use in noncancer hospice/palliative care patients is not well defined. The authors report the case of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patient under hospice care with increased seizure frequency. The patient is a 22-year-old female with advanced HIV disease complicated by tonic-clonic seizures, hypoalbuminemia, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and gastritis. During an admission to the hospice inpatient unit, she developed increasing seizure frequency while receiving oral phenytoin. After collaboration between the clinical pharmacist and the hospice treating physician, they simplified her medication regimen, discontinued the phenytoin, and initiated oral levetiracetam. After these adjustments to her medication regimen, the patient's seizure frequency decreased significantly. This case illustrates the challenges of anticonvulsant use in advanced disease, including drug-drug interactions, impaired pharmacokinetics parameters, and increased risk of adverse effects. The importance of continuously monitoring patients for adverse drug events and assessing patient specific factors to help guide medication selection are also highlighted.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 65.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 553.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.