Behavioral symptoms are known side effects of levetiracetam. Previous case series in children and adolescents have demonstrated the potential effect of pyridoxine in ameliorating these symptoms. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 51 patients treated with pyridoxine to control agitation and irritability following the introduction of levetiracetam. These symptoms were relieved in 34 patien...

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is a rare cancer, and there are no standard-of-care treatments for patients with metastatic ACC. We herein report a patient with lung metastasis of ACC who achieved a favorable response to levetiracetam. A 52-year-old Japanese man was admitted to our hospital because of multiple lung metastases of ACC. We performed first-line chemotherapy with cisplatin plus gemci...

We report on a 3-year-old boy with myoclonic-astatic epilepsy who developed myoclonic status epilepticus with continuous twitching of the face and unresponsiveness under monotherapy with levetiracetam. Recently, a nonconvulsive status epilepticus in an adult epilepsy patient has also been described. Our observation points to the possibility of a causal relationship between the induction of myoc...

The effect of acute treatment with the new antiepileptic drug (AED) levetiracetam (Keppra) on the frequency of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) was evaluated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study with therapeutic drug monitoring and serial electroencephalographic (EEG) observations. Acute (500 mg twice daily) and chronic (individualized, 500-1000 mg twice daily) doses ...

BACKGROUND Limited and conflicting data exist for the influence of antiepileptic drugs on thyroid function in children. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of phenobarbital, valproate, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, and levetiracetam monotherapy on thyroid function in daily clinical practice during a 12-month treatment period. METHOD A total of 223 children (103 fe...

Epilepsy is a chronic medical condition that still poses a challenge in terms of treatment. There are a variety of anticonvulsants available today, but these do not prevent frequent hospital admissions and emergency room visits. Benzodiazepines, however, remain the first line treatment in acute seizure management. The approval of phenytoin, fosphenytoin, intravenous valproate, and rectal diazep...

OBJECTIVES Optimal pharmacotherapy of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in outpatient settings is still a matter of discussion. The aim of this evaluation was to examine the efficacy and tolerability of a combination of levetiracetam and tiapride for outpatient alcohol detoxification. METHODS This was an open-label evaluation. After screening eligibility for outpatient detoxification, 9 a...

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder in the pediatric population, affecting up to one percent of children, and for which the mainstay of treatment is anticonvulsant medication. Despite the frequent use of anticonvulsant drugs, remarkably little is known about the safety and efficacy of most of these medications in the pediatric epilepsy population. Of 34 anticonvulsants currently approved...

Commentary In utero exposure to first-generation antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) has been shown to increase the risk of congenital malforma-tions and cognitive deficits (1). The risk of major congenital malformations with AED exposure is estimated to be between 4 and 9 percent, compared with the background risk of 1 to 2 percent (2). Prenatal exposure to different older-generation AEDs has been asso...

Introduction: In this study, the patients diagnosed with breath holding spell (BHS) or anoxic epileptic seizures and initiated at least one out of iron piracetam levetiracetam therapies were evaluated. Material Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 194 BHS patients. Iron therapy was in case deficiency anemia ferritin values under 12 ng/dl even if there no anemia. The having anemia, low administ...