Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026

Behavioral Characterization of Pentylenetetrazole-induced Seizures: Moving Beyond the Racine Scale
Published on: July 8, 2025
Antimyoclonic effect of levetiracetam
1Centre Saint-Paul, 300, boulevard Saint-Marguerite, 13009 Marseille, France. piergen@aol.com
Abstract:
Treatment of severe, incapacitating action myoclonus is difficult. Piracetam has been shown to be a very potent antimyoclonic agent, but only at very high, impractical doses, ranging from 24 to 40 g/d. Levetiracetam (LEV), a new antiepileptic drug, is a structurally related compound that has a distinct pharmacological profile and appears to be efficient at much lower doses. We gave LEV, 4,000 mg/d, without titration, to three volunteers with post-anoxic myoclonus (PAM) (one case) and Unverricht-Lundborg disease (two cases), over 2, 2 and 10 weeks, respectively. LEV produced a clear abatement of myoclonus, which is demonstrated on video for the patient with post-anoxic myoclonus, without any unwanted side-effects. These preliminary findings suggest that LEV may have interesting antimyoclonic properties that deserve further investigation.
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