The evaluation of sexual functions and sex hormones in male and female epilepsy patients taking valproic acid and carbamazepine monotherapy [Valproik asit ve karbamazepin monoterapili kadi{dotless}n ve erkek epilepsi hastalari{dotless}nda cinsel fonksiyonlari{dotless}n ve seks hormonlari{dotless}ni{dotless}n deǧerlendirilmesi]

Objective: in patients with epilepsy,sexual dysfunction is seen at an higher incidence than in patients with other chronic neurologic disorders. in this study,we examined sex hormone levels and sexual dysfunction in patients with epilepsy who took carbamazepine (cbz) and valproic acid (vpa) monotheraphy. method: female and male patients in reproductive period who had sexual partners within the last three months referring to neurology department epilepsy clinic of ankara hospital between december 2009 - november 2010 and who have been followed for at least one year with cbz or vpa monotherapy were included in the study. there were 35 patients in the study; 18 patients who took vpa and 17 patients who took cbz. these patients' medical history,epilepsy history,sex hormone levels,drug blood levels,hamilton depression rating scale (ham-d),hamilton anxiety rating scale (ham-a) and arizona sexual experience scale (asex) levels were examined. results: the rate of sexual dysfunction was found statistically significant to be higher in women patients with epilepsy than men irrespective of drugs,anxiety and depression. dehydroepiandrostenedionesulphate (dheas) and progesterone (pg) levels were found statistically significant to be higher in male patients who took vpa. the number of pregnancies was statistically significant lower in female patients using vpa and it was associated with vpa induced hyperandrogenism. conclusion: sexual dysfunction and alterations in sex hormones may occur frequently in epilepsy patients. the most significant finding of our study was high rates of sexual dysfunction in women. further studies are necessary to support our findings.