Levetiracetam: part II, the clinical profile of a novel anticonvulsant drug.
The objective of this article was to review and summarize the available reports on the profile of the novel anticonvulsant drug levetiracetam (LEV) in a clinical setting. Therefore, a careful search was conducted in the MEDLINE database and combined with guidelines from regulatory agencies, proceedings of professional scientific meetings, and information provided by the manufacturers. This article is devoted to the clinical pharmacology and clinical trials of LEV investigating its efficacy and safety as add-on therapy or monotherapy for various seizure types. Finally, results from postmarketing surveillance of LEV are briefly discussed. In general, LEV is shown to be a safe, broad-spectrum anticonvulsant drug with highly beneficial pharmacokinetic properties, a favorable long-term retention rate, and a high responder rate, indicating that LEV is an efficient therapeutic option for the treatment of several types of epilepsy.
De Smedt
Tim
T
Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Neurophysiology - Reference Center for Refractory Epilepsy, University Hospital Ghent, Ghent, Belgium. T.DeSmedt@UGent.be
Raedt
Robrecht
R
Vonck
Kristl
K
Boon
Paul
P
D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D010889:Piracetam / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D010889:Piracetam