Levetiracetam: an improvement of attention and of oral fluency in patients with partial epilepsy

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to verify whether patients with partial epilepsy receiving levetiracetam (LEV) as an add-on treatment show an improvement in cognitive function. METHODS: A neuropsychological battery of tests was administered to 35 patients with partial epilepsy before the assumption of LEV and after the achievement of the therapeutical dose of this drug, 7 weeks later. A control group of 35 patients with partial epilepsy was administered the same battery of tests twice, at the same time interval as the LEV group. The controls were administered the same pharmacological treatment, which did not include LEV in either of the two sessions. RESULTS: We found a statistically significant improvement in cognitive functioning, i.e. in attention and oral fluency, in patients receiving LEV compared to the controls. The responders to LEV were 28.6%. CONCLUSIONS: LEV as an add-on therapy improved attention level and verbal fluency in our sample of patients with partial epilepsy. It is reasonable to assume that LEV may influence the metabolism of attention and of language area, as already suggested for piracetam (PIR) from which LEV derives. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.