title: Intermittent levetiracetam treatment in five patients with catamenial epilepsy.
abstract: Catamenial epilepsy is a periodic increase in seizure frequency in women with epilepsy during menstruation, or at any specific point in the menstrual cycle. We present five cases who attended the epilepsy outpatient clinic at the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, China, and who suffered catamenial epilepsy and received intermittent Levetiracetam (LEV) treatment 1 week prior to and post-menstruation around each menstrual period. The patients responded positively and seizures were controlled with a dose of 0.5g, twice daily in 3(67%) patients, and by a dose of 0.75g twice daily in the remaining 2(33%) patients, indicating that intermittent LEV therapy could be an effective strategy for the treatment of catamenial epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Nengwei
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Hongbin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D010889:Piracetam / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D010889:Piracetam
keywords: Catamenial epilepsy, Levetiracetam, Intermittent treatment.