Possibilities of dried blood spots as a matrix in therapeutic drug monitoring of antiepileptic drugs in children THESIS FOR DOCTORAL DEGREE (Ph.D.

Self-collection of blood samples in the patient's home environment is an alternative to visits at hospitals for having blood drawn for laboratory blood screening tests. Patients in remote and resource-limited areas and patients with difficulties to access the hospital can have their blood tests collected and sent by mail to the analysing laboratories. 1,2 Dried blood spot sampling is an alternative sampling strategy that has been introduced recently for therapeutic drug monitoring (measuring drug concentration for optimising individual patient drug treatment). 3 Self-sampling at home can be beneficial for children with epilepsy and their families, since it can reduce the stress that comes with regular visits to a clinic for blood sampling. A regular checkup of the concentration of their drug therapy is often required to reduce the risk of seizures or

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