Question:medium

A child with Dravet syndrome is started on fenfluramine for seizure control. Which of the following must be specifically monitored during therapy?

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Remember why fen-phen was pulled from the diet-pill market.
Updated On: Jun 25, 2026
  • Cardiovascular status (echocardiography for valvulopathy/pulmonary hypertension)
  • Agranulocytosis
  • Hepatic failure
  • Renal failure
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

Fenfluramine is a serotonergic antiseizure agent used in Dravet syndrome. The clinically decisive safety issue is rooted in its serotonin pharmacology.

Serotonergic stimulation of $5\text{-}HT_{2B}$ receptors on cardiac valves drives fibrotic valvular thickening and can raise pulmonary vascular pressure. This is the same mechanism that caused the notorious fen-phen valvular heart disease in the 1990s. Consequently, regulatory labelling requires cardiac surveillance: an echocardiogram before starting, repeated during treatment, and after stopping, to screen for valvular regurgitation and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

The other options belong to different drugs - agranulocytosis to clozapine/carbamazepine, hepatic failure to valproate/felbamate, and renal failure is not the signature fenfluramine toxicity. Therefore cardiovascular (echo) monitoring is the answer.

\[\boxed{\text{Monitor cardiovascular status with echocardiography}}\]
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