• Han-Yee Neo, Keng-Teng Tan, Caroline Caroline, David Wei-Han Ng, Esther Pei-Ying Ho, Jun-Pei Lim, Raphael Hsien-Xiong Lee, Nigel Choon-Kiat Tan, David Chien-Boon Lye, and Yew-Yoong Ding.
• Department of Geriatric Medicine, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
• Intern Med J. 2020 Jan 1; 50 (1): 123-127.

AbstractClinical experience suggests higher occurrence of carbapenem-associated seizures in the elderly than what is reported in the available literature (range between 0.2% and 0.7%). An audit of 1345 patients with age 60 years or older, who received imipenem, ertapenem or meropenem during their acute hospitalisation found 32 (2.4%) subjects developed seizures. Subjects with more than one central nervous system disorders were 11.6 times more likely to develop seizures (odds ratio 11.61, P < 0.001) and subjects with prior history of seizures is associated with four times greater risks (odds ratio 4.02, P = 0.005). Physicians should exercise caution when prescribing carbapenems in elderly, especially those with known epilepsy and a high number of intracranial pathologies.© 2020 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

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