Epilepsy research
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Efficacy and safety of levetiracetam 1000-3000 mg/day in patients with refractory partial-onset seizures: a multicenter, open-label single-arm study.
To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in patients with refractory partial-onset seizures in a protocol designed to reflect clinical practice. ⋯ Levetiracetam as add-on therapy at doses up to 3000 mg/day effectively reduced the frequency of partial-onset seizures in patients with refractory epilepsy and was well-tolerated in this study, bridging conditions of placebo-controlled clinical trials and clinical practice.
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Comparative Study
Administration of diazepam during status epilepticus reduces development and severity of epilepsy in rat.
Prevention of epileptogenesis after brain insults, such as status epilepticus (SE), head trauma, or stroke, remains a challenge. Even if epilepsy cannot be prevented, it would be beneficial if the pathologic process could be modified to result in a less severe disease. We examined whether early discontinuation of SE reduces the risk of epilepsy or results in milder disease. ⋯ If epilepsy developed, the seizures were less frequent in DZP-treated animals compared to the vehicle group (median 16.4 seizures/day), particularly in the 2-h DZP group (median 0.4 seizures/day). Finally, if DZP treatment was started 2 h, but not 3 h after SE, the severity of hippocampal cell loss was milder and the density of mossy-fiber sprouting was lower than in the vehicle group. These data indicate that treatment of SE with DZP within 2 h reduces the risk of epilepsy later in life, and if epilepsy develops, it is milder.