Abstracts

Rationale: Status Epilepticus is defined as a seizure of greater than thirty minutes duration. Children with intractable epilepsy have frequent hospital admissions secondary to status epilepticus or because of acute exacerbations of seizures. Intravenous levetiracetam became available in August 2006 for use in patients aged >16 years. There is not enough data about the efficacy and safety of IV Levetiracetum in children. We retrospectively analyzed data from children treated with intravenous levetiracetam for status epilepticus or acute exacerbation of seizures. Methods: In this retrospective evaluation, we acquired patient data from electronic medical records of intractable epilepsy patients admitted at Scott & White Hospital/ Texas A& M health Science Center , Temple , TX with status epilepticus and acute exacerbation of seizures and received IV Levetiracetum load. Results: We retrospectively analyzed 32 patients who received Keppra load ranging from 25-50mg/kg for status epilepicus. The age range is from 2 months to 18 years. There were 17 (53.1%)males and 15 (46.8%) females. In 28 ( 87.5%) patients , there was immediate response to IV Levetiracetum load and status epileticus stopped clinically and electrographically. 18 (56.5%) patients received IV Keppra load after receiving a load of fosphenytoin with no response. No serious side-effects were observed . 11 (34.4%) patients were maintained on levetiracetam monotherapy and 10 (31.2%) as adjunctive therapy after discharge from the hospital. The duration of follow-up ranges from 2 to 9 months. Conclusions: The intravenous levetiracetam can be used both as adjunctive and monotherapy in children with status epilepticus and acute exacerbation of seizures. This research was supported by Young Investigator Research Program (YIRP) of UCB Pharma.