Effects of levetiracetam monotherapy on the cognitive function of epilepsy patients

Aims: To estimate the effect of levetiracetam (LEV) on cognitive function and mood status in newly diagnosed epilepsy patients. Methods: Fifty-five drug-naïve epilepsy patients (M:F ratio = 31:24; mean age = 30.9 years) were included. All patients underwent two neuropsychological (NP) tests, one before receiving LEV and then another 12.9 ± 5.0 months after starting LEV monotherapy. We evaluated general cognitive function, verbal/visual attention and memory, linguistic and visuospatial functions, frontal lobe function, and mood status. Repeated-measures regression and generalized estimating equation models were applied to assess the effects of all the confounding variables such as seizure control, average LEV dose, duration of epilepsy, inter-test interval, and subtype of epilepsy syndrome. Results: LEV monotherapy over 1 year revealed significant improvements in the following domains of NP tests with the correction of possible confounding variables: verbal and visual attention, psychomotor speed, mental flexibility, executive function, verbal fluency and word generation. No NP domains showed any significant decrease. Conclusion: Our study suggested that LEV monotherapy had no harmful effect on cognitive function in drug-naïve patients with epilepsy.