The literature provides contrasting results on the efficacy of LEV in MS patients with cerebellar signs. Thi study was done to evaluate the efficacy of LEV on the upper limb movement in MS patients.
In this multicenter double‐blind placebo‐controlled crossover study, MS patients with prevalently cerebellar signs were randomly allocated into two groups: LEV followed by placebo (group 1) or placebo followed by LEV. Clinical assessments were performed by a blinded physician at T0, T1, T2, and T3. The primary outcome was dexterity in the arm with the greater deficit, assessed by the 9HPT. The kinematic evaluation was performed using a digitizing tablet, providing data on the normalized jerk, aiming error, and centripetal acceleration.
A total of 48 subjects were randomly allocated into two groups. 9HPT significantly improved in the LEV phase in both groups. The LEV treatment phase led to a significant improvement of all clinical outcomes in group 1 and in dexterity in group 2. No significant changes were reported during both placebo phases in the two groups. Considering the kinematic analysis, only normalized jerk significantly improved after treatment with LEV (T0–T1) in group 1.
Through findings, this study concluded that levetiracetam treatment seems to be effective in improving upper limb dexterity in MS patients with cerebellar signs.
Reference: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ene.14403
