Abstracts

Rationale: The study aims to systematically assess the effects of Levetiracitam (LEV) in children with intractable epilepsies, including prospectively recorded seizure frequency, Quality of Life (QOL), Epilepsy Impact (EI), adverse events, following the previously reported retrospective study (1).Methods: This is an on-going multicentre, open, observational study in pediatric neurology departments in the Midlands UK, of consecutive children prescribed LEV. QoL, EI, seizure diaries and a standard proforma were used pre-treatment and at follow-up for over 12 months. Simple descriptive statistics have been used preliminarily.Results: 17 children, 7 female, aged 2-15 years (mean 8.1 years) has been studied so far. Most had intractable epilepsies and had failed to respond to 2 to 5 other antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). So far 9/17 have had follow-up beyond 6 months. Maximum doses ranged from 14 to 55 mg/kg/day (mean 38 mg/kg/day). 8/17 were still on LEV at last observation and all had a greater than 50% reduction in seizure frequency and additional benefits. 1 became seizure free. 7/17 reported possibly or probably related adverse events, but there have been no serious adverse events so farConclusions: Lev is well tollerated in this heterogenous population and preliminary data suggests worthwhile benefits in 8/17 (47%). Analysis of the QoL and EI data will be undertaken in 6 months time. Reference: 1) Peake D, et al. Retention rate of Levetiracitam in children with intractable epilepsy at 1 year. Seizure 2007;16:185-189. Acknowledgement: We thank UCB-Pharma for an un-restricted grant to partly fund the project and all the participants and their parents / guardians for their support.