The anticonvulsant effects of levetiracetam were assessed in two genetic rat models. In the audiogenic-seizure prone rat, levetiracetam, 5.4 to 96 mg/kg i.p. dose-dependently inhibited both wild running and tonic-clonic convulsions. In the GAERS model of petit mal epilepsy, levetiracetam markedly suppressed spontaneous spike-and-wave discharge (SWD) but left the underlying EEG trace normal. The effects were already marked at 5.4 mg/kg and did not increase significantly up to 170 mg/kg although more animals were completely protected. Levetiracetam produced no observable effects on behaviour apart from slight reversible sedation at 170 mg/kg. In contrast, piracetam, a structural analogue of levetiracetam, significantly and consistently suppressed SWD in GAERS rats only at the high dose of 1000 mg/kg with some slight effects at lower doses. The effect of piracetam appeared to be due to increased sleeping rather than to a direct antiepileptic effect. The results with levetiracetam argue for a clinical application in both petit mal, absence epilepsy and in treating generalised tonic-clonic and partial seizures.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0920-1211(95)00077-1 | DOI Listing |
Front Pediatr
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Introduction: This article reports a detailed case of a patient with who exhibited epileptic status and dermatologic symptoms.
Case Presentation: A 5-month-old female patient was brought to our hospital due to status epilepticus, with erythematous vesicular skin lesions on her trunk and extremities. Routine magnetic resonance imaging revealed infarction, ischemia, and encephalomalacia.
Cureus
December 2024
Department of Internal Medicine and Hematology, Uwajima City Hospital, Uwajima, JPN.
An 87-year-old male with a history of seizure disorder on long-term prophylaxis with valproate and concomitant levetiracetam presented with impaired consciousness and anorexia. The evaluation revealed a markedly elevated blood ammonia level of 518 μmol/L and decreased serum carnitine levels, leading to a diagnosis of valproate-induced hyperammonemic encephalopathy in the absence of liver dysfunction. Discontinuation of valproate, continuation of levetiracetam, and initiation of levocarnitine supplementation and branched-chain amino acid infusion resulted in a durable resolution of symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGen Thorac Cardiovasc Surg Cases
January 2025
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Japan Organization of Occupational Health and Safety, Osaka Rosai Hospital, Sakai, Osaka, 591-8025, Japan.
Background: Epileptic seizures following adult cardiovascular surgery occur in 0.9-3% of patients, with the condition in 3-12% of these patients progressing to status epilepticus (SE). SE is a severe condition that significantly impacts prognosis and necessitates early diagnosis and treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpilepsy Behav
January 2025
Division of Child Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA. Electronic address:
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathy marked by drug-resistant seizures and profound cognitive and behavioral impairments, with nearly 95% of individuals affected by moderate to severe intellectual disability. This review comprehensively explores the cognitive and behavioral impacts of current treatment options for LGS, including antiseizure medications (ASMs), neuromodulation strategies, the ketogenic diet, and surgical interventions. Given the limited availability of LGS-specific data for several ASMs, the evidence base is supplemented with findings from general epilepsy populations and individuals with epilepsy and intellectual disabilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpilepsia
January 2025
Department of Pharmacy, Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Objective: An increasing number of antiseizure medications (ASMs) are approved for monotherapy for focal epilepsy, but direct comparisons of the lifetime cost-effectiveness of all existing treatment strategies are lacking. This study aims to compare the cost-effectiveness of new ASMs and traditional ASMs as first-line monotherapy for newly diagnosed focal epilepsy.
Method: We used a Markov model to evaluate the lifetime cost-effectiveness of 10 ASMs in the treatment of focal epilepsy, with lacosamide (LCM) as a control, from the perspective of society in the United States.
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