Abstracts

Levetiracetam (LEV) had demonstrated its efficacy in pivotal clinical trials of adjunctive therapy in focal (FE) and generalized (GE) drug-resistant epilepsy. There are few post-marketed studies about the long-term efficacy and safety of LVT. We report our experience with LEV in FE and GE. This prospective observational, add-on, open study explored the efficacy (number of seizures/month) and tolerability (adverse events) of LEV in a prospective series of 43 patients with drug-resistant focal and generalized epilepsy attending a single epilepsy unit between February 2002 and April 2004 43 patients (21 women and 22 men), 39 with FE and 4 with GE. Mean age: 37.7 years. Mean time with epilepsy: 22.1 years (FE: 36.52, GE: 27.5). Mean duration of treatment 12 months (range 1 week-23 months). Mean doses of LEV 1,900 mg/day (range 500-3,000 mg/day). FE group: seizure-free 5 patients (13%), frequency of seizures was reduced by more than 50% in 15 patients (38%), less than 50% in 5 patients (13%), did not vary in 8 (21%) and 6 patients (15%) showed an increase in seizure frequency. In the GE group: one patient with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome suffered a generalized status, two patients (one with absence with eyelid myoclonia and another with Lafora disease) did not vary their frequency of seizures and another patient with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome showed less than a 50% decrease in seizure frequency. Early tolerance (lees than 2 months) appeared in one patient and late in another two. Adverse effects of LEV, (lethargy, dizziness, irritability, depression and anorexia) appeared in 39% of patients, all of them at the FE group. Treatment cessation with LEV was necessary in 14 FE patients (tolerance, adverse effects and seizure increase) and 3 GE patients (inefficacy). LEV reduced the frequency of seizures by more than 50% in half of patients (13% seizure-free). In our few cases of GE, LEV was less effective. LEV appears to be well-tolerated in most cases.