ReviewNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2019
A meta-analysis of levetiracetam for randomized placebo-controlled trials in patients with refractory epilepsy.
Review in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Levetiracetam add-on for drug-resistant focal epilepsy.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of levetiracetam as adjunctive therapy for refractory focal epilepsy.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2021Trial
- Psychobehavioural and Cognitive Adverse Events of Anti-Seizure Medications for the Treatment of Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies.CNS drugs · 2022Review
- Levetiracetam Mechanisms of Action: From Molecules to Systems.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in intractable epilepsy of children.Iranian journal of child neurology · 2022Article
- [Paediatric Life Support].Notfall & rettungsmedizin · 2021Review
- Antiepileptic Drug Selection According to Seizure Type in Adult Patients with Epilepsy.Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) · 2020Review
- Integration of postmortem amygdala expression profiling, GWAS, and functional cell culture assays: neuroticism-associated synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) gene is regulated by miR-133a and miR-218.Translational psychiatry · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety profile of levetiracetam as add-on therapy in patients with refractory epilepsy.
methodsWeb of Science, MEDLINE (Ovid and PubMed), Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Google Scholar were systematically searched to identify potential eligible randomized controlled trials by two reviewers independently. Pooled estimates of risk ratios (RRs) for 50%, 75%, and 100% reduction from baseline were calculated using the fixed-effect model or random-effect model. Quality of included studies was assessed with the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool. Serious adverse events and withdrawals induced by interventions and the most common side effects were analyzed.
resultsSeventeen trials with a total of 3,205 participants were included in this meta-analysis, including 14 trials for adulthood and three trials for children. Pooled estimates suggested that levetiracetam was an effective anti-epileptic drug at 1,000-3,000 mg/day (RR =2.00 for 1,000 mg/day, RR =2.68 for 2,000 mg/day, RR =2.18 for 3,000 mg/day) for adults and 60 mg/kg/day (RR =2.00) for children compared to placebo in terms of 50% reduction from baseline. Likewise, as for seizure freedom rate, levetiracetam had an advantage over placebo at 1,000-3,000 mg/day (RR =5.84 for 1,000 mg/day, RR =4.55 for 2,000 mg/day, RR =4.57 for 3,000 mg/day, respectively) for adults and 60 mg/kg/day (RR =4.52) for children. Regarding safety profile, patients treated with levetiracetam had significantly higher occurrence than placebo for somnolence, asthenia, dizziness, infection, nasopharyngitis, anxiety, and irritability; however, most studies reported that these adverse events were mild and transient.
conclusionLevetiracetam is an effective anti-epileptic drug for both adults and children with generalized or partial-onset refractory seizures at 1,000-3,000 or 60 mg/kg/day, with a favorable adverse event profile.
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Registered trials
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