phenytoin

[fen-i-toh-in, fuh-nit-oh-]

noun

Pharmacology.

1. a barbiturate-related substance, C 1 5 H 1 2 N 2 O 2 , used as an anticonvulsant in the treatment of grand mal epilepsy and in focal seizures.

phenytoin

/ ˌfɛnɪˈtəʊɪn /

noun

1. Also called: diphenylhydantoin sodium. an anticonvulsant drug used in the management of epilepsy and in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms. Formula: C 15 H 11 N 2 O 2 Na

Word History and Origins

Origin of phenytoin¹

1940–45; (di)pheny(lhydan)toin, its full chemical name; di- ¹, phenyl, hydantoin

Word History and Origins

Origin of phenytoin¹

C20: from ( di ) pheny ( lhydan ) toin

Example Sentences

Dr. Anwar and his team first treated the microbes with diazepam, phenobarbitone and phenytoin, three anti-seizure drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

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Typically, generic drugs cost a fraction of the branded version because there tend to be several competing suppliers, but in this case, no other company made phenytoin sodium.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Chief executive David Fakes said punishing Flynn for selling phenytoin capsules for less than phenytoin tablets "beggars belief".

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But the policy led clinicians to forego prescribing carbamazepine at all and instead they began to prescribe phenytoin.

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And other teams are pursuing different avenues, with a group at University College London studying a drug called phenytoin, which has already been used to treat epilepsy for 60 years.

Read more on Scientific American