Objective The anti-epileptogenic drug levetiracetam has anticonvulsant and anti-epileptogenesis effects. Synergy between cell death and inflammation can lead to increased levels of apoptosis inhibitory factors and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, aberrant neurogenesis and extended axon sprouting. Once hyperexcitation of the neural network occurs, spontaneous seizures or epileptogenesis develo...

PURPOSE To assess the long-term usefulness of 'new anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs)' (lamotrigine, topiramate, levetiracetam, gabapentin and pregabalin) in institutionalized intellectually disabled patients. Information from RCTs is lacking in this population with severe intellectual and behavioural disabilities. METHODS Retrospective study. Data from the medical files and the pharmacy databases o...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of levetiracetam on tardive dyskinesia (TD), which is known to be a major limitation of chronic antipsychotic drug therapy, particularly with conventional antipsychotics. METHODS Sixteen patients suffering from chronic psychosis with TD were enrolled consecutively. Levetiracetam was given in gradually increasing doses, starting with ...

BACKGROUND Rapidly disintegrating or 'fast-melt' oral formulations have been developed recently to facilitate drug intake among patients. Even though these formulations have helped to improve therapy adherence, some of their limitations include: the dissolution time, their facility to be swallowed, and the dosage strengths that may be accommodated. To overcome these limitations, a novel, porous...

BACKGROUND Levetiracetam is widely used as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures, myoclonic seizures, primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, and idiopathic generalized epilepsy in the community and in hospital. However, no convenient, easy-to-swallow dosage form is commercially available in Canada. Moreover, no stability data are available for this antiepileptic prep...

BACKGROUND Therapeutic drug monitoring of the anticonvulsant levetiracetam may be indicated in patients with conditions that may alter pharmacokinetic characteristics, for tailoring individual dosage regimens or to investigate patient compliance. In this study, the Bio-Rad high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method (in-use method) and the ARK immunoassay method (new method) for leveti...

Levetiracetam is a relatively new antiepileptic drug that has previously not been associated with severe dermatological side effects. We report the case of a 31-year-old male treated with levetiracetam for seizures who subsequently developed a mycosis fungoides-like drug reaction that resolved upon dosage reduction.

Since the 1970s, racetams have been in use as cognitive enhancers. Levetiracetam was discovered to have antiseizure activity in animal models and was then found to bind to SV2A in synaptic and endocrine vesicles. Brivaracetam, an analog of levetiracetam, was identified in a medicinal chemistry campaign with the objective of discovering analogs with higher affinity at racetam-binding sites and g...

We present a patient with cryptogenic focal epilepsy and another with Dravet syndrome, who experienced seizure aggravation and negative myoclonus, associated with continuous spikes and waves during slow sleep, induced by levetiracetam. For both patients levetiracetam was discontinued, and there was significant improvement of this particular electroclinical picture.