Levetiracetam for the treatment of idiopathic generalized epilepsy with myoclonic seizures.

Background: Currently, there are no published randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy and safety of adjunctive antiepileptic therapy in idiopathic generalized epilepsy with myoclonic seizures. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial assessed the efficacy and tolerability of adjunctive treatment with levetiracetam 3,000 mg/day in adolescents (≥12 years) and adults (≤65 years) with idiopathic generalized epilepsy, who experienced myoclonic seizures on ≥8 days during a prospective 8-week baseline period, despite antiepileptic monotherapy. The 8-week baseline period was followed by 4-week up-titration, 12-week evaluation, and 6-week down-titration/conversion periods. Results: Of 122 patients randomized, 120 (levetiracetam, n = 60; placebo, n = 60) were evaluable. Diagnoses were either juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (93.4%) or juvenile absence epilepsy (6.6%). A reduction of ≥50% in the number of days/week with myoclonic seizures was seen in 58.3% of patients in the levetiracetam group and in 23.3% of patients in the placebo group ( p p p = 0.004) and all seizure types (21.7% vs 1.7%; p Conclusion: These results suggest that levetiracetam is an effective and well-tolerated adjunctive treatment for patients with previously uncontrolled idiopathic generalized epilepsy with myoclonic seizures.