title: Suppression of post-hypoxic and post-encephalitic myoclonus with levetiracetam.
abstract: Posthypoxic and postencephalitic myoclonus is often poorly controlled with current treatments. The authors successfully treated three patients with posthypoxic and postencephalitic myoclonus by using levetiracetam, a new antiepileptic drug. Levetiracetam appears to be a promising agent for treating action myoclonus caused by hypoxic and encephalitic brain injury-the degree of functional improvement may depend on the severity of associated motor dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. gkrauss@jhmi.edu
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Krauss
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergin
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Reich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000150:complications*; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010889:Piracetam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000077287:Levetiracetam; D010889:Piracetam