Abstracts

Rationale: Epilepsy occurs in 2 to 5 percent of all people who sustain traumatic brain injury, but it is much more common if TBI is severe and occurs early in life. It has been suggested that prophylactic anticonvulsant therapy with phenytoin may be considered as an option to prevent early PTS in pediatric patients at high risk. To investigate the potential benefit of levetiracetam in TBI a local registry has been create. Methods: We entered in our registry all children less than 2 years of age who sustained a severe traumatic brain injury. The injury resulted in severe coma and/or status epilepticus. All children were placed on levetiracetam at the dose of 60 mg/kg/day and benzodiazepines and other antiepileptic were added to the regimen as clinically indicated.Results: Ten children less than 2 years of age were entered in our registry between 2005 and 2007. All children received benzodiazepines in the acute phase. Five children had to receive fosphenytoin or phenobarbital in addition the levetiracetam. All infants became seizure free and experienced no side effect. Conclusions: Our data suggest LVT is well tolerated and controls seizures in 50% of young children with severe TBI. Additional trials, including larger multi-center studies, are needed to clarify the utility of this therapy.