title: Safety of levetiracetam among infants younger than 12 months--Results from a European multicenter observational study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are limited data on the use of the antiepileptic drug (AED) levetiracetam for the treatment of infants.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To prospectively evaluate the safety of levetiracetam oral solution and its impact on epilepsy severity in infants with different seizure types.
  
  
  METHODS
  This noninterventional post-authorization safety study included patients 1-11 months of age. Patients' treatment - levetiracetam dose, and addition, withdrawal or changes in the doses of concomitant medications and AEDs - was at the discretion of the physician. The primary variable was treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 101 infants, 75 completed and 26 discontinued the study. Mean age was 6.0 months, 50 were male, most (80%) took 1 ≥ concomitant AED and had cryptogenic or symptomatic epilepsy that was focal (38.6%) or generalized (20.8%), particularly frontal lobe epilepsy (20.0%) or West syndrome/infantile spasms (20.0%). Among known aetiologies, congenital factors (22.8%) such as dysplastic lesions or perinatal events (17.8%) were predominant. Overall, 54.5% of patients had ≥ 1 TEAE. Five patients experienced drug-related TEAEs - convulsion, irritability, somnolence and hypotonia, all listed in the product label, with the exception of hypotonia, which was reported for one patient and resolved without any change in study medication. Seven patients discontinued due to TEAEs, mainly due to infantile spasms and respiratory disorders. At study end, 71.8% of patients showed improvement in epilepsy severity, 18.8% remained stable and 9.4% showed worsening. Levetiracetam did not appear to have a negative effect on growth parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this prospective study, which included the largest number of patients in this age range so far, levetiracetam was found to be well tolerated and efficacious for the treatment of infants with epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epilepsy, Sleep and Paediatric Neurophysiology, University Hospitals of Lyon (HCL), Lyon, France; Brain Dynamics and Cognition Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Centre (CRNL), Lyon, France. Electronic address: aarzimanoglou@orange.fr.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arzimanoglou
authors.affiliation: UCB Pharma, Monheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lösch
authors.affiliation: UCB Pharma, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garate
authors.affiliation: UCB Pharma, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bentz
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology*; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D008297:Male; D010889:Piracetam / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D000077287:Levetiracetam; D010889:Piracetam
keywords: Children; Epilepsy; Infants; Levetiracetam; Safety