[Levetiracetam in children and adolescents with epilepsy]

The aim of this paper is to report on the clinical experiences that have been published concerning the association of levetiracetam (LEV) in children and adolescents with refractory epilepsies.

Although LEV has been approved for use in polytherapy in patients over the age of 16, some short works (communications and posters in international congresses) and three open studies have already dealt largely with the fact that the drug has been associated in children and in adolescents under the age of 16, with all types of refractory seizures, especially focal seizures. Half the patients can be considered to be responders, since the seizure rate is reduced by more than 50% when LEV is associated, and were completely eradicated in 16% of cases. In a third of the cases side effects were reported, although they can be seen as being mild and transient since they meant that LEV application was interrupted in less than 10% of cases.

LEV is a drug that is effective and well tolerated in children and adolescents with difficult-to-treat epilepsies; it is very straightforward to manage due to its excellent pharmacokinetic characteristics and suggested dosages at these ages are between 40 and 50 mg/kg/day (up to 3,000 mg per day, in two doses).