[Handskeleton studies with mammography technique in patients under antiepileptic medication (author's transl)]

An investigation with 114 epileptic patients under continuous treatment with anticonvulsiva was conducted in order to determine to what extent studies of the handskeleton with low-KV-technique will contribute to diagnosing osteopathy. The roentgenological findings of the hand were correlated with the x-ray findings of the remainder of the skeleton and with the results of biochemical studies. A control biopsy was performed in 8 cases. Definite and with all methods recognizable signs of osteomalacia were present in 7% of the cases, although only 2 patients developed a pathologic fracture. Another 32 patients (28%) showed suspicious changes in the handskeleton, which could not be confirmed by the comparative studies. No patient with normal findings of the handskeleton showed suspicious changes in the remainder of the skeleton or clinical and chemical indications of osteomalacia.