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Efficacy and Safety of Levetiracetam as an Add-On Therapy in Children Aged Less Than 4 Years With Refractory Epilepsy

¹ Pediatric Research Institute, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
² Clinical Electroneurophysiology Center, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China
³ Rehabilitation Center, Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: caojie0220{at}163.com.

	Abstract

In the past decade, most studies on levetiracetam were conducted on patients aged 4 years of age. The authors sought to assess the efficacy and safety of levetiracetam as an adjunctive treatment of children <4 years of age with refractory epilepsy. The mean levetiracetam dosage used on the 24 patients in this study was 38.85 mg/kg per day, and the mean duration of treatment was 40 weeks. During the study, levetiracetam was tapered off in 2 patients due to seizure worsening and was discontinued in other 2 patients due to unacceptable adverse effects. Levetiracetam therapy was effective in 58.3% of patients, with 20.8% achieving seizure freedom. Eight patients showed no obvious response and the remaining 2 patients showed divergent responses. Although adverse effects were seen in 37.5% of patients, all adverse effects were tolerable or resolved with time or discontinuation. Therefore, the authors conclude that levetiracetam treatment is effective and safe in young children with refractory epilepsy.

First published on September 24, 2009
Journal of Child Neurology 2009, doi:10.1177/0883073809342489


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