Abstracts

Rationale: Benign Rolandic Epilepsy (BRE) and Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) are similar childhood-onset epilepsy syndromes with sleep-accentuated epileptiform activity, sporadic seizures, and language dysfunction. Levetiracetam has been associated with improved language function in LKS and seizure control in BRE. We hypothesized levetiracetam would similarly improve language function in BRE. Methods: We prospectively studied six children (ages 6-12 years) with BRE and reported language dysfunction over 6 months. All were actively receiving anticonvulsants other than levetiracetam preceding the study. Children were transitioned to 40 mg/kg/day of levetiracetam over a 2-week period. Auditory testing and EEGs were obtained at baseline and 6 months. Results: At 6 months, three of 4 children with baseline auditory comprehension impairments performed normally and 5 had improved auditory verbal memory. All parents reported subjective improvements in language. Seizures improved in 5, decreasing from 2.7 to 1.0 seizures per 6 months, p=0.11. Three children had normal waking and sleep EEGs; two showed reduced epileptiform activity. Conclusions: Results from this pilot study suggest that levetiracetam may be associated with improved language function in children with BRE, and was also helpful for both reducing seizures and epileptiform activity.