Efficacy And Tolerability Of Levetiracetam In Children With Epilepsy

ObjectiveTo assess the efficacy and compliance of levetiracetam (LEV) in children with epilepsy.Methods1. Open-label observational, prospective,single arm, non-interventional study examining patients (≤14 years) with epilepsy, receiving mono- or combination therapy with levetiracetam.2. Levetiracetam was started at a dose of approximately 10 mg/kg/day. The dose was titrated up with 10 mg/kg increments if seizures were poorly controlled but the maximum daily dose couldn't be more than 60 mg/kg/day.3. Documented were seizure type and frequency, levetiracetam dose and side effects.Results1. 120 patients (39.3% females, mean age 4.5±3.9 years) were enrolled. Average duration of follow-up was 10.3±3.5 months.2. At study endpoint, 64.8% of patients got seizure free and 83.0% got a seizure reduction of≥50%.3. During the study, side effects were reported by 57 of the 120 patients (47.5%) and 9 patients (7.5%) experienced more than two sorts of side effects. Observed side effects were somnolence, dysphoria, nervousness, dystrophy, somnipathy, asitia, debilitation, et al. Side effects usually occurred during two to three weeks at the beginning (68.7%) and disappeared in one month.4. Four (3.3%) of 120 patients withdrew because of intolerance of side effects. The estimated one year retention rate of levetiracetam was 73.3%. Poor effect was the most common reason for withdrawal.Conclusions1. It seemed that levetiracetam was effective for a wide range of epileptic seizures in children with epilepsy.2. Few kind of side effects occurred during the treatment and most of them were mild and lived short time.3. Levetiracetam had a high retention rate and was easy to comply.