title: Levetiracetam monotherapy for elderly patients with epilepsy.
abstract: We retrospectively identified 14 elderly patients with a history of partial seizures who received levetiracetam (LEV) monotherapy. Patients began LEV either as first line therapy (n=5) or were converted to LEV monotherapy (n=9) after failing prior antiepileptic medications (AEDs). Thirteen patients continued on LEV monotherapy for at least 6 months. One patient was lost to follow-up. Eight patients (61.5%) became seizure free. Four patients who began LEV as a first line therapy became seizure free, whereas the remaining four patients who converted to LEV after they failed their previous AEDs became seizure free. Four patients (30.7%) had more than a 50% seizure reduction of seizures. Only one patient had no significant change in seizure frequency after started on LEV. The total dosages used to control seizures were 500-3000 mg/day, (mean 1839.2 mg/day). LEV monotherapy can be effective and well tolerated in this group of patients. A prospective, larger, double blind monotherapy study is needed to confirm this finding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Treatment Center, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA. taoufik.alsaadi@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Taoufik M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Alsaadi
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koopmans
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Apperson
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farias
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010889:Piracetam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D010889:Piracetam