Abstracts

Levetiracetam (LEV) is a novel antiepileptic drug (AED) approved for treatment of partial seizures in adults. The experience in children is limited. We sought to determine the efficacy of LEV as add-on and monotherapy in a cohort of pediatric epilepsy patients treated at our institution with LEV during 2001-2003. A retrospective analysis of medical records identified 47 children. There were thirty males and 17 females. Ages ranged from 0.5 to 20 years. Dose range was 10-70 mg/kg/day. Follow-up range was 6-34 months. LEV was used as adjunctive therapy in 37 children. Their seizure types were partial in 18(48%), mixed in 17(46%), and generalized in 2(4%) In this group, 50-100 % seizure reduction was seen in 13(72%) children with partial, 5(31%) with mixed and 2(100%) with generalized epilepsy. 12/37 children (32%) became seizure free; 4 of them decreased concomitant AEDs from 2-3 to 1, while 4 others converted to LEV monotherapy. LEV was used as initial monotherapy in 10 patients due to side effects or lack of efficacy of first line AEDs. Nine had partial and 1 generalized epilepsy. Five children (50 %) were seizure free at median follow up of 15 months. Adverse effects were noted in 7 children (15%)lethargy in 2, and behavior /cognitive changes in 5. LEV was discontinued in 12 patients (25 %) for adverse effects or poor seizure control LEV was well tolerated and effective ([gt]50% seizure reduction) as both adjunctive and monotherapy in 53 % of our patients. LEV is a therapeutic alternative for a variety of childhood epilepsies