• J A Ferrendelli, J French, I Leppik, M J Morrell, A Herbeuval, J Han, and L Magnus.
• Department of Neurology, University of Texas-Houston School of Medicine, 6431 Fannin Street, Suite 7.044, 77030, Houston, TX, USA. James.A.Ferrendelli@uth.tmc.edu
• Epilepsy Behav. 2003 Dec 1; 4 (6): 702-9.

AbstractLevetiracetam (Keppra) was evaluated in a subset of patients aged >/=65 years (n=78) enrolled in a large (n=1030) open-label, phase IV trial (the KEEPER trial). A 4-week dose adjustment was followed by a 12-week evaluation period. An overall median reduction in partial seizures of 80.1% (n=65) was observed. Overall, 76.9% of patients were >/=50% responders, 56.9% were >/=75% responders, and 40.0% were 100% responders. Levetiracetam was well tolerated, with 42.3% of patients reporting one or more adverse events. A total of 15 patients (19.2%) experienced an adverse event that led to discontinuation. Somnolence (n=13,16.7%) and dizziness (n=7,9.0%) were the most commonly reported adverse events. Despite the limitations of the open-label study design, these data provide information regarding the use of levetiracetam as add-on therapy for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients >/=65 years of age, including those requiring concomitant medications.

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