Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16685465›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neuro-oncology2006

Levetiracetam therapy in patients with brain tumour and epilepsy.

Marta Maschio, Fiorenzo Albani, Agostino Baruzzi, Alessia Zarabla, Loredana Dinapoli, Andrea Pace, Alfredo Pompili, Carmine Maria Carapella, Emanuele Occhipinti, Bruno Jandolo

Abstract readClinical Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neuro-oncology, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
7.3field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Management of epilepsy in brain tumors.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2019
    Guideline
  3. Pooled it
  4. Antiepileptic drugs for treating seizures in adults with brain tumours.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2011
    Pooled it
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  12. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Marta MaschioDepartment of Neuroscience and Cervical-Facial Pathology, Epilepsy Outpatient's Centre, Regina Elena National Institute for Cancer, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144, Rome, Italy. maschio@ifo.it
Fiorenzo Albani
Agostino Baruzzi
Alessia Zarabla
Loredana Dinapoli
Andrea Pace
Alfredo Pompili
Carmine Maria Carapella
Emanuele Occhipinti
Bruno Jandolo
National Cancer Institute · MYUniversity of Bologna · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Epilepsy is a common clinical problem in patients with brain tumours, strongly affecting patients' quality of life. Tumour-related seizures are often difficult to control, and the clinical picture is complicated by frequent interactions between antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and antineoplastic agents. We studied the safety and efficacy of levetiracetam (LEV), a new AED with a different pharmacological profile from traditional anticonvulsants, in 19 patients (6 females; age range 28-70 years, mean 48 years) with supratentorial gliomas and epilepsy. Seizure types were simple partial in four patients, complex partial in 4, complex partial with secondary generalization in 7, and generalized tonic-clonic in 4. LEV was added to the existing AED treatment on account of persisting seizures, and titrated at dosages of 1,000-3,000 mg/day. Patients were seen at the Outpatient's Centre every 1-3 months, and followed-up for 7-50 months (mean 25 months, median 20 months). At the end of the observation period, nine patients were seizure free (seizure free period ranging from 7 to 33 months, mean 16, median 12) and five patients reported an improvement in seizure-frequency from daily to weekly (n=1) or from weekly to monthly (n=3). Seizure frequency was unmodified in four patients and increased (from monthly to weekly) in one. No LEV-related adverse effects were observed. LEV plasma concentrations monitored in 12 subjects ranged from 11.9 to 82.1 microg/ml. Our preliminary open data indicate that add-on treatment with LEV in patients with brain tumours is safe and appears to be effective in reducing seizure frequency. Controlled studies on larger populations are warranted to confirm these open observations.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAnticonvulsantsBrain NeoplasmsDrug Therapy, CombinationEpilepsyFemaleHumansLevetiracetamMaleMiddle AgedPiracetamAnticonvulsantsLevetiracetamPiracetam

Identifiers

PMID16685465
OpenAlexW2005018772

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.