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Dr. Andrew Rynne

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Child On Levetiracetam For Seizures. Cause Of Seizures? How Long She Should Continue?

My 3-year old granddaughter is on levetiracetam for seizures. However, it has never been stated what is causing these seizures, how long she ll be on this medication, etc. Should they be decreasing the dosage? Should there be monthly medical follow-up? Should they be doing further testing to see what is causing the seizures?
Thu, 31 Oct 2013
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Neurologist 's  Response
Hi,
Thank you for posting your query.

It is an important question, and one has to find out the cause of seizures, to decide how long to give the seizure medications.
Common investigations required to determine the cause of seizures are MRI brain-epilepsy protocol and electroencephalogram (EEG).
If both are normal and there is no family history of epilepsy, then, it is labeled as cryptogenic epilepsy. In these cases, at least three seizure free years are required before we can stop the seizure drugs. The drug should be gradually reduced and stopped and not all of a sudden.
Regular follow up and review with the doctor is necessary to monitor the efficacy and safety of drugs.

I hope it helps.

Please get back if you require any further information.

Best wishes,
Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology)
Senior Consultant Neurologist
Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad,
For DIRECT QUERY to me: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar
My blog: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.com/
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Child On Levetiracetam For Seizures. Cause Of Seizures? How Long She Should Continue?

Hi, Thank you for posting your query. It is an important question, and one has to find out the cause of seizures, to decide how long to give the seizure medications. Common investigations required to determine the cause of seizures are MRI brain-epilepsy protocol and electroencephalogram (EEG). If both are normal and there is no family history of epilepsy, then, it is labeled as cryptogenic epilepsy. In these cases, at least three seizure free years are required before we can stop the seizure drugs. The drug should be gradually reduced and stopped and not all of a sudden. Regular follow up and review with the doctor is necessary to monitor the efficacy and safety of drugs. I hope it helps. Please get back if you require any further information. Best wishes, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) Senior Consultant Neurologist Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, For DIRECT QUERY to me: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar My blog: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.com/