Phenytoin chemical structure
Find information on thousands of medical conditions and prescription drugs.

Dilantin

Phenytoin sodium (marketed as Dilantin® in the USA and as Epanutin® in the UK, by Parke-Davis, now part of Pfizer) is a commonly used antiepileptic. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1953 for use in seizures. Phenytoin acts to damp the unwanted, runaway brain activity seen in seizure by reducing electrical conductance among brain cells. more...

Home
Diseases
Medicines
A
B
C
D
Dacarbazine
Dactinomycin
Dalmane
Danazol
Dantrolene
Dapoxetine
Dapsone
Daptomycin
Daraprim
Darvocet
Darvon
Daunorubicin
Daunorubicin
Daypro
DDAVP
Deca-Durabolin
Deferoxamine
Delsym
Demeclocycline
Demeclocycline
Demerol
Demulen
Denatonium
Depakene
Depakote
Depo-Provera
Desferal
Desflurane
Desipramine
Desmopressin
Desogen
Desogestrel
Desonide
Desoxyn
Desyrel
Detrol
Dexacort
Dexamethasone
Dexamfetamine
Dexedrine
Dexpanthenol
Dextran
Dextromethorphan
Dextromoramide
Dextropropoxyphene
Dextrorphan
Diabeta
Diacerein
Diacetolol
Dial
Diamox
Diazepam
Diazoxide
Dibenzepin
Diclofenac
Diclohexal
Didanosine
Dieldrin
Diethylcarbamazine
Diethylstilbestrol
Diethyltoluamide
Differin
Diflucan
Diflunisal
Digitoxin
Digoxin
Dihydrocodeine
Dihydroergotamine
Dihydrotachysterol
Dilantin
Dilaudid
Diltahexal
Diltiazem
Dimenhydrinate
Dimercaprol
Dimetapp
Dimethyl sulfoxide
Dimethyltryptamine
Dimetridazole
Diminazene
Diovan
Dioxybenzone
Diphenhydramine
Diphenoxylate
Dipipanone
Dipivefrine
Diprivan
Diprolene
Diproteverine
Dipyridamole
Disulfiram
Disulfiram
Dizocilpine
Dobutamine
Docetaxel
Docusate sodium
Dofetilide
Dolasetron
Dolobid
Dolophine
Domperidone
Donepezil
Dopamine
Dopram
Doral
Doramectin
Doriden
Dornase alfa
Doryx
Dostinex
Doxapram
Doxazosin
Doxepin
Doxil
Doxil
Doxorubicin
Doxy
Doxycycline
Doxyhexal
Doxylamine
Drisdol
Drixoral
Dronabinol
Droperidol
Drospirenone
Duloxetine
Durabolin
Duragesic
Duraphyl
Duraquin
Dutasteride
Dv
Dyclonine
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

History

Phenytoin (diphenylhydantoin) was first synthesized by a German physician named Heinrich Biltz in 1908. Biltz sold his discovery to Parke-Davis, which did not find an immediate use for it. In 1938, outside scientists including H. Houston Merritt and Tracy Putnam discovered phenytoin's usefulness for controlling seizures, without the sedation effects associated with phenobarbital. There are some indications that phenytoin has other effects, including anxiety control and mood stabilization, although it has never been approved for those purposes by the FDA.

Jack Dreyfus, founder of the Dreyfus Fund, became a major proponent of phenytoin as a means to control nervousness and depression when he received a prescription for Dilantin in 1966. Dreyfus' book about his experience with phenytoin, A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked, sits on the shelves of many physicians courtesy of the work of his foundation. Despite more than $70 million in personal financing, his push to see phenytoin evaluated for alternative uses has had little lasting effect on the medical community. This was partially due to Parke-Davis's reluctance to invest in a drug nearing the end of its patent life, and partially due to mixed results from various studies.

Dilantin made an appearance in the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, both as an anticonvulsant and as a mechanism to control inmate behavior.

Side-effects

At therapeutic doses, phenytoin produces horizontal gaze nystagmus, which is harmless but occasionally tested for by law enforcement as a marker for drunkenness (which can also produce nystagmus). At toxic doses, patients experience sedation, cerebellar ataxia, and ophthalmoparesis, as well as paradoxical seizures. Idiosyncratic side effects of phenytoin, as with other anticonvulsants, include rash and severe allergic reactions.

There is some evidence that phenytoin is teratogenic, causing what Smith and Jones in their Recognizable Patterns of Human Malformation called the fetal hydantoin syndrome. There is some evidence against this. One blinded trial asked physicians to separate photographs of children into two piles based on whether they showed the so-called characteristic features of this syndrome; it found that physicians were no better at diagnosing the syndrome than would be expected by random chance, calling the very existence of the syndrome into question. Data now being collected by the Epilepsy and Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry may one day answer this question definitively.

Phenytoin may accumulate in the cerebral cortex over long periods of time, as well as causing atrophy of the cerebellum when administered at chronically high levels. Despite this, the drug has a long history of safe use, making it one of the more popular anti-convulsants prescribed by doctors, and a common "first line of defense" in seizure cases. Phenytoin may also cause gingival hyperplasia.

Read more at Wikipedia.org


[List your site here Free!]


Dilantin[R] Jeopardy: Avoiding The Dangers of Phenytoin. : An article from: MedSurg Nursing $5.95 Dilantin - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References $28.95
Phenytoin (Dilantin, Diphenylhydantoin) and its adverse effects in the human body $40.00

Simple steps to flawless skin; basic lifestyle changes make the difference when it comes to achieving a clear complexion
We've all heard how important it is to care for our skin from the outside--but what's often not recognized is just how much our lifestyle affects the ...
Antiepileptic drugs and brain tumor-related seizures
Patients with brain tumors are at increased risk for seizures. Antiepileptic drugs to prevent seizures in patients with a brain tumor is controversial, ...
Diary: from a week in practice
Monday Estella, a middle-aged Hispanic patient, visited the mobile clinic for exudative tonsillitis four days ago. The result of her rapid strep test ...
Interim Clinical Study results for a supplement for cancer risk reduction
Background In 1998, two cancer research colleagues [Jerome B. Block, MD, and Steven Evans, MS] became convinced that the peer-reviewed literature strongly supported the role of various nutraceuti
Folic acid mouthwash for gingivitis
Thirty dental students and auxiliary personnel (aged 21-32 years) were randomly assigned, in double-blind fashion, to rinse their mouths for 5 minutes ...
Night of the dao bao
Situation: First the crazy woman jeopardized her little kids' lives. Then she came at them--and you--with a cleaver-like edged weapon. Lesson: Do what you know you must. Leave it to the rest of s
Nonepileptic Seizures: Reframing the Diagnosis
PROBLEM: Protocols for disclosing the diagnosis of psychological pseudoseizures have been developed. However, outcomes have not been carefully studied.
Case report: late-onset eclampsia presents as bilateral cortical blindness
TO THE EDITOR: Although preeclampsia is typically diagnosed in the prenatal period, we would like to describe an unusual case of late-onset eclampsia ...

Home Contact Resources Exchange Links ebay