Intravenous Levetiracetam as first-line treatment of status epilepticus in the elderly

Background - Status epilepticus is a condition of prolonged/repetitive seizures that often occurs in the elderly. Treatment in the elderly can be complicated by serious side effects associated with traditional drugs. Objective - The aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the short-term efficacy/safety of intravenously administered LEV (IVLEV) as the treatment of choice for SE in the elderly. Methods - We enrolled nine elderly patients (five female/four male; median age 78 years) with SE. Two patients had a previous diagnosis of epilepsy; in the remaining seven, SE was symptomatic. SE was convulsive in five and non-convulsive in four. All the patients presented concomitant medical conditions (arrhythmias/respiratory distress/hepatic diseases). As the traditional therapy for SE was considered unsafe, IVLEV was used as first-line therapy (loading dose of 1500 mg/100 ml/15 min, mean maintenance daily dose of 2500 mg/24 h) administered during video-EEG monitoring. Results/conclusions - In all the patients but one, IVLEV was effective in the treatment of SE and determined either the disappearance of (7/8), or significant reduction in (1/8), epileptic activity; no patient relapsed in the subsequent 24 h. No adverse events or changes in the ECG/laboratory parameters were observed. These data suggest that IVLEV may be an effective/safe treatment for SE in the elderly.