The Efficacy And Tolerabilityy Of Levetiraceram In Chinese Southwest Region Of Children And Adolescents With Epilepsy

PART1RETENTION RATE OF LEVETIRACERAM INCHINESE SOUTHWEST REGION OF CHILDREN ANDADOLESCENTS WITH EPILEPSYObjective: To investigate the long-term retention rate of Levetiraceramin Chinese southwest region of children and adolescents with epilepsy and toevaluate the withdrawal causes of Levetiractam.Methods: Clinical features of218cases (male/female:126/92) fromJuly.2006to june.2007were collected. Patients with epilepsy who receivedmono-or combination therapy with Levetiraceram. The initial dose was10mg/kg/d twice a day,3-4weeks to add to the target dose, the dose wasflexible during the evaluation period and could be increased up to60mg/kg/d to achieve good efficacy and tolerability. An investigator askedthe seizure frequency and side effects for1,6,12,24,36, and48monthsduring follow-up.Results: A total of218patients were enrolled in this investigation. The Levetiraceram retention rate in1,2,3, and4years were82.1%,64.7%,56.4%, and43.6%, respectively. The predominant causes of withdrawalwere lack of efficacy (41.5%), subjective misunderstanding (13.8%),follow-up loss (13.0%), adverse effects (12.2%), and lack of money (7.3%).COX analysis reveals that the seizure frequency from baseline and thecourse of epilepsy were associated with treatment failure. In addition,44(21.2%) patients had no seizures and153(72.2%) patients had reducedepisodes of seizure (≥50%). In this research,92(42.2%) patientsexperienced at least one side effect. The most common side effectsobserved were irritability47(51.1%), somnolence29(31.5%), learningdisability17(18.5%), anorexia17(18.5%), somnipathy15(16.3%), andabnormal behavior13(14.2%).Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that Levetiraceram has highlong-term retention rate in Chinese southwest region of children andadolescents with epilepsy. THE LONG-TERM EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITYY OFLEVETIRACERAM IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS OFCHILDREN WITH EPILEPSYObjective: To investigate the long-term efficacy and tolerability ofLevetiraceram in different age groups of children with epilepsy whoreceived mono-or combination therapy.Methods:210children who came from Chinese southwest regionwere incepted mono-or combination therapy with Levetiraceram would bedivided into five different groups: infants group, kiddy group, preschoolage group, school age group and adolescence group. The initial dose was10mg/kg/d twice a day,3-4weeks to add to the target dose, theLevetiraceram dose was flexible during the evaluation period and could beincreased up to60mg/kg/d to achieve good efficacy and tolerability. Theinvestigator recorded monthly the seizure frequency from baseline to theend of study to evaluate the efficacy, observed the side effects.Results: Five groups of children who were treated by Levetiraceramin this investigation showed seizure frequency by month in last follow upstudy was less than exposure to seizure frequency by month in baseline (P＜0.01), the seizure frequency in corresponding period compared with eachgroup showed no obviously difference (P＞0.05). The responder≥50% reduction at the end of follow up in infants group, kiddy group, preschoolage group, and school age group were70.0%(40/58),76.1%(35/46),58.3%(35/60) and82.5%(33/40). Seizure freedom were41.8%(26/58),58.7%(27/46),41.7%(25/60) and67.5%(27/40), Respectively. In thisresearch, the most common side effects observed were somnolence,irritability, assitude, headache, abnormal behavior, learning disability,Cognitive decline, anorexia. The side effect rates in infants group, kiddygroup, preschool age group, and school age group were39.7%,54.3%,61.7%and52.5%in turn.Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that Levetiraceram maintainshigh long term efficacy and tolerability in different age groups of childrenwith epilepsy, the efficacy in school-age children group was much higherthan others group. Most side effects don’t usually last long and are rarelyserious; the side effects appeared in infant groups was lower than others. Itwas worth to clinical promotion.