Nonconvulsive status epilepticus on treatment with levetiracetam.

In several studies the efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam (LEV) have been demonstrated. We report two patients who developed nonconvulsive status epilepticus on treatment with LEV. Both patients never experienced status epilepticus before. One patient had a symptomatic epilepsy with complex partial seizures following radiotherapy of astrocytoma in 1985; the second patient had complex partial seizures due to mesial temporal sclerosis. Both patients received LEV 2000 mg/day. We postulate a correlation between occurrence of nonconvulsive status and treatment with LEV. This has not been described before apart from a single report of mentally retarded patients with status epilepticus on high dosages of LEV.