ONE YEAR POST MARKETING EXPERIENCE WITH LEVETIRACETAM FOR TREATMENT OF DRUG RESISTANT EPILEPSY [ndash] A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Abstract number :
2.215
Submission category :
Year :
2002
Submission ID :
3434
Source :
www.aesnet.org
Presentation date :
12/7/2002 12:00:00 AM
Published date :
Dec 1, 2002, 06:00 AM
Authors :
Eugen Trinka, Josef Unterrainer, Iris Unterberger, Gerhard Luef, Florian Deisenhammer, Gerhard Bauer. Neurologie, Universitätsklinik Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; Institute for Psychology, Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
RATIONALE: Levetiracetam (LEV) is a newly approved drug for add on therapy of focal epilepsies. There are limited experiences in generalized epilepsies. We aimed to assess the safety, efficacy and tolerability of LEV in treatment of drug resistant focal and generalized epilepsies.
METHODS: All adults treated with LEV at the Universitätsklinik für Neurologie, Innsbruck (n=71) were evaluated retrospectively. We analyzed seizure type, etiology, epilepsy syndrome, and seizure frequency. The treatment response to LEV, side effects and tolerability were assessed.
RESULTS: Total number of patients were 71 (42 women) with an age range of 18 to 69 yrs. Of the patients 50.7% had TLE, 29.6% extratemporal epilepsy (ETE) and 19.7% generalized epilepsy (GE). The etiology was symptomatic in 69%, cryptogenic in 21.1%, and idiopathic in 9.9%. Mean age at epilepsy onset was 15 yrs (SD 10.6), mean number of seizure days per month was 10.2 (SD 10). At follow up (mean 28 weeks; SD 17.6) 21.1% of all pts were seizure free, 12.7% had a seizure reduction of [gt]75%, 11.3% had a seizure reduction of [gt]50%. Retention rate was 69.6%. The reason for withdrawal was lack of efficacy in 13 patients, side effects in 2, and a combination of both in 5 pts. Responder and non-responder did not differ in age, epilepsy and seizure type, etiology, number of concomitant medication, mean LEV dosis (2687.5mg [plusminus]578.5 vs. 2675.7 [plusminus]792.4), blood level (28.4mg/l [plusminus]16 vs. 30.6mg/l [plusminus]11.3), duration of treatment with LEV (32 wk. [plusminus]17.6 vs. 28[plusminus]17.2). There was a linear relationship between LEV dose and blood level (r= 0.419; p[lt]0.05) None of the analyzed factors was predictive for respondership or withdrawal of LEV due to any reason in a cross validated discriminant analysis.
CONCLUSIONS: Our observational study confirms the initial studies of LEV in terms of high efficacy and tolerability. It also indicates an efficacy in generalized epilepsies combined with a low incidence of side effects. LEV appears to be a promising broad-spectrum treatment for focal and generalized epilepsies.