Levetiracetam in stiff-person syndrome.

We studied the effects of oral levetiracetam (LEV) (500 mg twice daily) in three women with stiff-person syndrome in a single-blind, placebo-controlled study. The severity of muscle rigidity and of paroxysmal symptoms was assessed by EMG and clinically by a rating scale of 0-4 and by the Patients Global Impressions Scale. LEV was well tolerated. On active treatment all patients improved as assessed by any of the objective or subjective outcome measures. No response was noticed on placebo. Our data indicate that in patients with SPS, LEV is well tolerated and has a therapeutic role in the management of both muscle stiffness and life-threatening paroxysmal respiratory spasms.

Focal and secondarily generalised convulsive status epilepticus induced by thiocolchicoside in the rat.

The objective of this study was to document the convulsant properties of thiocolchicoside in rats, and to characterise the electroclinical pattern of epileptic seizures. Experiments were carried out in three groups of male Wistar rats: in group A, thiocolchicoside was applied topically to the pia, or given by microinjection to the cerebral cortex (2 microg/microl); in group B, the drug was administered parenterally (6 mg/kg) to rats with minimal lesions of the dura and arachnoid membranes; in group C, thiocolchicoside was administered parenterally (up to 12 mg/kg) to intact rats. In all animals, electroclinical activity was continuously monitored for at least 3 hours after thiocolchicoside injection or application. In group A, electrographic and behavioural activity of focal motor seizures occurred in 100% of animals, developing into a focal status epilepticus; in group B, a multifocal epileptic pattern with secondary generalisation, clinically characterised by clonic or tonic-clonic seizures occurred in 100% of animals, until a secondarily generalised convulsive status epilepticus; in group C, none of animals showed either electrographic or behavioural seizure activity. Our study documents that thiocolchicoside has a powerful convulsant activity in the rat, perhaps due to an antagonistic interaction of the compound with a cortical subtype of the GABA(A) receptor.

Disfluent speech in patients with partial epilepsy: beneficial effect of levetiracetam.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effects of levetiracetam (LEV) in patients with partial epilepsy and disfluent speech. METHODS: Five consecutive patients with partial epilepsy and disfluent speech resulting from developmental or neurogenic stuttering were enrolled in a 9-week, open-label, prospective study. LEV was given in combination with carbamazepine (CBZ) or phenytoin (PHT) at dosages ranging from 500 to 1500mg twice daily. The severity of stuttering was assessed with the verbal fluency test (VFT), and with the patient global impression of improvement (PGI), at baseline and after 9weeks. Electroencephalography and serum monitoring of CBZ and PHT levels were done before and after the study. Seizure frequency was monitored. RESULTS: After LEV therapy, verbal fluency for all patients, as measured by the VFT, improved from 25% at baseline to 64%, as did the speed of oral reading, from 5 to 23%. On the PGI, all patients rated themselves as better and as having less disfluent speech after LEV therapy. For four patients with incomplete control of their seizures, the seizure count decreased by more than 50% after LEV therapy. The beneficial effect of LEV on verbal disfluency demonstrated on the PGI persisted for the entire period of observation, which ranged from 7 to 11 months. CONCLUSIONS: As an add-on therapy, LEV seems to improve verbal fluency in patients with partial epilepsy and disfluent speech. This effect seems unrelated to the antiepileptic activity of the drug. A placebo-controlled trial of LEV in patients with this kind of verbal disfluency is warranted.