文章基本信息

标题：Efficacy of Levetiracetam in Treatment of Childhood Stuttering
本地全文：下载
作者：Mohammadreza Ghazavi ; Fateme Rastgu ; Jafar Nasiri 等
期刊名称：INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
印刷版ISSN：2008-7802
出版年度：2020
卷号：11
DOI：10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_354_18
语种：English
出版社：ISFAHAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
摘要：Background: Stuttering is a kind of speech disorder that affects about 1% of total population. As the origin of this disorder is not obviously diagnosed yet, various remedies have been practiced and among them different medicines have been studied, but unfortunately no significant effective drugs have been recognized yet. As stuttering imposes a great social and mental costs to the patients and their families, finding an effective medicine will help significantly. In this study we have focused on the effects of levetiracetam (LEV) treatment on children suffering from stuttering. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 30 children aged 3 years (median 3.8 years) with stuttering and abnormal sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) were treated by LEV and followed-up for a minimum period of 6 weeks. The starting dose of 20 mg/kg/day was increased at an interval of 1 week by 20 mg/kg/day, if necessary, up to maximum dose of 60 mg/kg/day. Results: Overall LEV was effective in 70% of patients, decreasing stuttering to at least 50%. Three children (10%) became stuttering-free and only in one (3.3%) child an increase in stuttering was observed. There were statistically significant differences for efficacy in the presence of variables such as age groups, seizure, stuttering family history, and EEG data. Conclusions: LEV is an effective drug for treatment of childhood stuttering in those that have abnormal sleep EEG.