[Acute pancreatitis caused by sodium valproate. Review of the literature apropos of a case in a child].

The authors report on the case of a 12.5 and year-old epileptic boy with severe acute pancreatitis which appeared 39 months after starting treatment with sodium valproate (VAP) at a daily dosage of 26.6 mg/kg. Twelve days after hospitalization, a pseudocyst of the pancreas developed, leading to cystoduodenostomy 3 months later. Following VPA suppression, no recurrence of pancreatic symptomatology was observed. The pathophysiological mechanism of this adverse side-effect of VPA treatment remains unclear. The appearance of a painful epigastric syndrome and/or vomiting in a patient subjected to a VPA treatment indicates the possibility or acute pancreatitis, to be confirmed by blood and urinary determination of amylases and abdominal tomodensitometric examination. Finally, the fact that this side-effect may be severe even lethal, brings into question the prescription of this drug in the management of epilepsy.