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Levetiracetam Versus Sodium Valproate in Children With Refractory Generalized Convulsive Status Epilepticus

Phase 2
Completed
Conditions
Grand Mal Status Epilepticus
Interventions
Registration Number
NCT02920060
Lead Sponsor
Banaras Hindu University
Brief Summary

This study is a randomized, open label, parallel group,comparing the safety and efficacy of valproate and levetiracetam in patients of age group 1 to 16 years with status epilepticus not responded to phenytoin and benzodiazepines approaching to pediatric emergency , IMS, BHU. The primary outcome measures will be Proportion of children in either group who have Cessation of all clinical seizure within 30 min of drug administration and secondary outcome will be time taken to control seizure (minutes) from the initiation of infusion. Proportion of children in either group who required additional drugs to abort ongoing clinical seizures, rates of adverse events (hypotension, bradycardia, respiratory depression, PICU stay, in hospital mortality) in the two groups were measured. Refractory status epilepticus condition is major pediatric neurological emergency with high mortality and morbidity. Till now, the treatment guidelines for it are based primarily on retrospective studies with very few randomized studies. There is lack of sufficient data to recommend one drug over another for treatment of refractory status epilepticus.

Detailed Description

In our study patients were considered to have RSE if children were still having active convulsions despite receiving injection lorazepam intravenously at a dose of 0.1 mg/kg (max 4 mg) at a rate maximum upto 2 mg/min or intravenous diazepam at a dose of 0.2 - 0.3 mg/Kg (maximum 10 mg) slowly or intravenous midazolam at a dose of 0.15 - 0.2 mg/kg(max 5 mg). In case of children with difficult intravenous access buccal/nasal midazolam 0.2 - 0.3 mg/kg (maximum 5 mg) per rectal diazepam 0.5 mg/kg (maximum 10 mg) or intramuscular midazolam 0.2 mg/kg (maximum 5 mg). If seizure continued at 5 minutes, a repeat dose of benzodiazepine was given with same dose. At 10 minutes, if the seizure activity still remains intravenous phenytoin was given at a dose of 20mg/kg(maximum- 1000mg) at a rate of 1mg/kg/minute or intravenous fosphenytoin at 20mg PE/kg (if available) at a rate of 3mg PE/kg/minute.

Patients having seizure activity despite administration of above medications were considered to have RSE. Out of thousands of patients seen in outdoor and emergency ward, 80 patients were diagnosed to have RSE and met the inclusion criteria. After counselling the parents/guardians about the medications and obtaining a written informed consent they were randomized to into two groups : sodium valproate(V) and levetiracetam group(L), using a computer generated randomization chart. Forty patients in group V received intravenous valproic acid in dose of 20 mg/kg as loading dose at a rate of 40 mg/min after dilution with normal saline followed by maintenance dose of 10mg/kg/dose 8 hourly. In group L patients received intravenous levetiracetam as loading dose of 30 mg/kg at a rate of 50 mg/min followed by 20mg/kg/dose 12 hourly.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
80
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Age - 1 year to 16 years
  2. Gender - male and female both
  3. Refractory generalized convulsive status epilepticus i.e. not responding to any two of the first line drugs
Exclusion Criteria
  1. Patients with epilepsia partialis continua.
  2. Patients with definite history of any allergic reaction to intravenous levetiracetam or intravenous valproate, or any contraindications in giving these drugs.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
CROSSOVER
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
LevetiracetamIntravenous levetiracetampatient in this group will receive intravenous levetiracetam as loading dose of 30 mg/kg at a rate of 50 mg/min
Sodium valproateSodium valproatepatients in this group will receive intravenous sodium valproate 20 mg/kg as loading dose at a rate of 40 mg/min
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
cessation of convulsions (clinically evident motor activity)30 minutes

clinical cessation of convulsions, vitals monitoring

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
change in vital parameters after infusing interventional agent24 hours

vital parameters will be recorded every 15 minutes for the first 1 hour after the intervention began and mean value of vital parameters will be compared in two groups

neurological outcome and seizure control1 month

to look for any neurological deficit or behavioural abnormality and seizure control at one month of follow-up

additional number of drugs24 hours

number of additional drugs to control RSE within 24 hours of infusion

seizure activity at 24 hours of infusion24 hours

whether clinical convulsive activity cessation or not

seizure recurrence24 hours

average number of seizure recurring after drug infusion within 24 hours

time taken to control seizure activity24 hours

time needed to control convulsive activity from infusion time

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