Treatment with low doses of levetiracetam, the active ingredient in the drug Keppra, appears to be effective by itself for controlling newly diagnosed epilepsy, new research indicates. Rates of freedom from seizures with levetiracetam were comparable to those seen with a gold-standard therapy, controlled-release carbamazepine.

At present, levetiracetam is used as add-on therapy for partial seizures, but recent reports have suggested it might provide adequate seizure control when used alone.

The new study, reported in the journal Neurology, involved 579 adults who had experienced two or more partial or generalized seizures in the past year and were randomly assigned to twice-daily treatment with levetiracetam or controlled-release carbamazepine. The doses could be increased up to a set limit as needed.

Dr. Martin J. Brodie, from the Western Infirmary Epilepsy Unit in Glasgow, and colleagues found that the seizure-freedom rates were nearly identical in each group - roughly 73 percent.

Of the patients who were seizure-free at 6 months, 80 percent of those given levetiracetam and 85 percent of those given carbamazepine were still at the lowest dose.

Overall, 14 percent of levetiracetam-treated patients and 19 percent of the carbamazepine group withdrew from the study due to adverse effects.

“Levetiracetam helps fill a need for safe and well-tolerated, easy-to-use epilepsy drugs, particularly because more than 30 percent of patients do not achieve seizure control with existing treatments,” Brodie said in a statement.

SOURCE: Neurology, February 6, 2007.