TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY IN OUTPATIENT PEDIATRIC NEUROLOGY: CURRENT APPROACHES TO PHARMACOTHERAPY

Favorable pharmacokinetic profiles of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) with linear kinetics, stable blood concentration, absence of clinically significant interactions with other drugs are important for the treatment of epilepsy in children and adolescents in the outpatient settings. Levetiracetam meets all these requirements. The study was aimed to the evaluation of the use of levetiracetam in outpatient neuropediatric practice. The study included 61 patients with various forms of epilepsy, including 31 girls and 30 boys between the ages of 2 and 17 years. 47 patients had concomitant diseases (neurological, somatic, endocrine), and this required particularly cautious approach for the selection of AEDs. Levetiracetam was administered in a therapeutic dose of 30 to 70 mg/kg/day. 23 (37.7%) children were on monotherapy; dual therapy was applied in 33 (54%) cases; and 5 (8.1%) children had received three AEDs. Positive clinical effect was achieved in 53 children - predominantly at 3 months of therapy, and in some cases already at 1-2 months of treatment, including slowing attacks by 25% in 2 children, by 50% - in 11, by 75% - in 3 children, and absence of seizures within 3-5 months in 38 (62.2%) children. Levetiracetam showed a high therapeutic efficacy, good tolerability, including in children and adolescents with comorbidity, so it has the advantage over other AEDs for use in outpatient neuropediatric practice.

epilepsy, outpatient practice, anti-epileptic drugs, levetiracetam