Epilepsy is a chronic medical condition and still poses a challenge in terms of treatment. There are varieties of anticonvulsants which are available but this does not prevent frequent hospital admissions and emergency room visits. Benzodiazepines still remain the first line treatment in acute seizure management. Approval of phenytoin, fosphenytoin, intravenous valproate and rectal diazepam gave more options to the physicians for acute management. Approval of Intravenous Levetiracetam provided another option to the physicians in patients who failed the other approved anticonvulsants. Intravenous Levetiracetam is approved for patients 4 years and older as alternative to oral treatment. There has been variety of case reports, case series and retrospective studies showing the efficacy of intravenous levetiracetam both in status epilepticus and acute exacerbation in seizures. These studies reported favorable response of Intravenous levetiracetam in both adults and children. Data has also showed good results even in neonates and preterm children. This Research Topic will focus on the role of intravenous levetiracetam in acute seizure management and emphasize of the need of larger prospective trials to further define the role of this anticonvulsant.
Epilepsy is a chronic medical condition and still poses a challenge in terms of treatment. There are varieties of anticonvulsants which are available but this does not prevent frequent hospital admissions and emergency room visits. Benzodiazepines still remain the first line treatment in acute seizure management. Approval of phenytoin, fosphenytoin, intravenous valproate and rectal diazepam gave more options to the physicians for acute management. Approval of Intravenous Levetiracetam provided another option to the physicians in patients who failed the other approved anticonvulsants. Intravenous Levetiracetam is approved for patients 4 years and older as alternative to oral treatment. There has been variety of case reports, case series and retrospective studies showing the efficacy of intravenous levetiracetam both in status epilepticus and acute exacerbation in seizures. These studies reported favorable response of Intravenous levetiracetam in both adults and children. Data has also showed good results even in neonates and preterm children. This Research Topic will focus on the role of intravenous levetiracetam in acute seizure management and emphasize of the need of larger prospective trials to further define the role of this anticonvulsant.