KEPPRA TABLET 250 MG [SIN11685P]

Product Info

KEPPRA TABLET 250 MG

[SIN11685P]

INDICATIONS

Keppra is indicated as monotherapy in the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in adults and adolescents from 16 years of age with newly diagnosed epilepsy.

Keppra is indicated as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of:

• partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in adults, adolescents and children from 4 years of age with epilepsy.

• myoclonic seizures in adults and adolescents from 12 years of age with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.

• primary generalised tonic-clonic seizures in adults and adolescents from 12 years of age with Idiopathic Generalised Epilepsy.

Keppra concentrate is an alternative for patients (adults and children from 4 years of age) when oral administration is temporarily not feasible.

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION

Keppra therapy can be initiated with either intravenous or oral administration. Conversion to or from oral to intravenous administration can be done directly without titration. The total daily dose and frequency of administration should be maintained.

Film-coated tablets
The film-coated tablets must be taken orally, swallowed with a sufficient quantity of liquid and may be taken with or without food. After oral administration the bitter taste of levetiracetam may be experienced. The daily dose is administered in two equally divided doses.

Oral solution
The oral solution may be diluted in a glass of water and may be taken with or without food. After oral administration the bitter taste of levetiracetam may be experienced. The daily dose is administered in two equally divided doses.

Concentrate for solution for infusion
Keppra concentrate is for intravenous use only and the recommended dose must be diluted in at least 100 ml of a compatible diluent and administered intravenously as 15-minute intravenous infusion (see Section Incompatibilities and Use and Handling – please refer to the Product Insert/Patient Information Leaflet published on HSA for the full drug information). There is no experience with administration of intravenous Keppra for longer period than 4 days.

Keppra concentrate is an alternative for patients (adults and children from 4 years of age) when oral administration is temporarily not feasible.

Route of Administration
For oral use:
Keppra Tablets 250 mg, 500 mg and 1000 mg
Keppra Oral Solution 100 mg/ml

For intravenous use:
Keppra Concentrate for Solution for Infusion 100 mg/ml

Please refer to Section INCOMPATIBILITIES AND USE AND HANDLING for recommendation on the preparation and administration of Keppra Concentrate for Solution for Infusion 100 mg/ml – please refer to the Product Insert/Patient Information Leaflet published on HSA for the full drug information.

Adults

• Monotherapy
  Adults and adolescents from 16 years of age
  The recommended starting dose is 250 mg twice daily which should be increased to an initial therapeutic dose of 500 mg twice daily after two weeks. The dose can be further increased by 250 mg twice daily every two weeks depending upon the clinical response. The maximum dose is 1500 mg twice daily.

• Add-on therapy
  Adults (≥18 years) and adolescents (12 to 17 years) of 50 kg or more
  The initial therapeutic dose is 500 mg twice daily. This dose can be started on the first day of treatment. Depending upon the clinical response and tolerance, the daily dose can be increased up to 1,500 mg twice daily. Dose changes can be made in 500 mg twice daily increases or decreases every two to four weeks.

Children

The physician should prescribe the most appropriate pharmaceutical form and strength according to age, weight and dose.

The tablet formulation is not adapted for use in children under the age of 6 years. Keppra oral solution is the preferred formulation for use in this population. In addition, the available dose strengths of the tablets are not appropriate for initial treatment in children weighing less than 25 kg, for patients unable to swallow tablets or for the administration of doses below 250 mg. In all of the above cases, Keppra oral solution should be used.

The safety and efficacy of Keppra concentrate for solution for infusion in children less than 4 years have not been established.

Monotherapy
The safety and efficacy of levetiracetam in children and adolescents below 16 years as monotherapy treatment have not been established.
There are no data available.

Add-on Therapy for Children (4 to 11 years) and Adolescents (12 to 17 years) weighing less than 50 kg
Keppra Oral Solution is the preferred formulation for use in children under the age of 6 years.

For children 6 years and above, Keppra oral solution should be used for doses under 250 mg, for doses not multiple of 250 mg when dosing recommendation is not achievable by taking multiple tablets and for patients unable to swallow tablets.

The initial therapeutic dose is 10 mg/kg twice daily.
Depending upon the clinical response and tolerability, the dose can be increased up to 30 mg/kg twice daily. Dose changes should not exceed increases or decreases of 10 mg/kg twice daily every two weeks. The lowest effective dose should be used.
Dose in children 50 kg or greater is the same as in adults.

Dose recommendations for children and adolescents:

Infants and children less than 4 years
There are insufficient data to recommend the use of Keppra in children under 4 years of age.

Elderly
Adjustment of the dose is recommended in elderly patients with compromised renal function.

Renal impairment
The daily dose must be individualised according to renal function (see section Warnings and Precautions – please refer to the Product Insert/Patient Information Leaflet published on HSA for the full drug information). For adult patients, refer to the following table and adjust the dose as indicated. To use this dosing table, an estimate of the patient's creatinine clearance (CL_cr) in ml/min is needed. The CL_cr in ml/min may be estimated from serum creatinine (mg/dl) determination, for adults and adolescents weighing 50 kg or more, using the following formula:

Then CL_cr is adjusted for body surface area (BSA) as follows:

Dosing adjustment for adult and adolescent patients weighing more than 50 kg with impaired renal function

For children with renal impairment, Keppra dose needs to be adjusted based on the renal function as Keppra clearance is related to renal function. This recommendation is based on a study in adult renally-impaired patients.

Hepatic impairment
No dose adjustment is needed in patients with mild to moderate hepatic impairment. In patients with severe hepatic impairment, the creatinine clearance may underestimate the renal insufficiency. Therefore, a 50% reduction of the daily maintenance dose is recommended when the creatinine clearance is <60 ml/min/1.73 m² (see section Warnings and Precautions – please refer to the Product Insert/Patient Information Leaflet published on HSA for the full drug information).

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Hypersensitivity to the active substance or other pyrrolidone derivatives or to any of the excipients.