• R Kuba, I Novotná, M Brázdil, J Kocvarová, I Tyrlíková, J Mastík, and I Rektor.
• Brno Epilepsy Centre, First Department of Neurology, St. Anne's Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. robert.kuba@fnusa.cz
• Acta Neurol. Scand. 2010 Feb 1; 121 (2): 83-8.

ObjectivesTo assess the long-term efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam in routine clinical practice.Materials And MethodsWe retrospectively analysed 218 patients, mostly adults, presenting mostly with localisation-related epilepsy, treated with levetiracetam as adjunctive therapy or monotherapy for up to 36 months. The primary points evaluated were: long-term retention rate, reasons for discontinuing levetiracetam and the percentage of seizure-free patients.ResultsThe retention rate at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months following the commencement of levetiracetam treatment was 91.7, 75.2, 60.1 and 53.7% respectively. Sixty-seven (30.7%) patients discontinued levetiracetam treatment. During the clinical audit evaluation period, surgical resection or implantation of VNS was performed in 31 (14.3%) patients. In 53 of the 67 patients (79.1%), the treatment was discontinued due to lack of efficacy; in 14 patients (20.9%) treatment was discontinued due to adverse events. In total, 24 of 218 patients (11.0%) were seizure-free for 36 months.ConclusionsLevetiracetam is an effective and well-tolerated option for long-term treatment of epilepsy in adults.

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