The authors had properly analyzed 28 clinical cases of epilepsy aggravation on levetiracetam therapy in pediatric patients receiving levetiracetam (n = 183). Risk of aggravation was 15,3 % (n = 28), including aggravation of epileptic status in 3,3 % of cases (n = 6). Levetiracetam could aggravate the following types of epileptic seizures: predominantly tonic spasms and myoclonic seizures, atypical absences with addition of negative epileptic myoclonus de novo, rarely – focal seizures and generalized tonic-clonic seizures and in some cases could aggravate status epilepticus of atypical absences, myoclonic, hemiconvulsive, tonic-autonomic and generalized tonic-clonic seizures. So, levetiracetam in population of infancy, early childhood and pre-school age children (before 7 years) must be used very carefully in consideration of potential risk of epilepsy aggravation.

The aim of the study was to analyst the efficiency and safety of topiramate in children and adult epileptic populations depending on the patient’s age and forms of epilepsy. 597 epileptic patients receiving topiramate (302 males, 295 females) aged from 2 up 57 years were followed with video-EEG control during the period of 2002-2012. Topiramate was effective at 66,2% of patients (n=395). Low efficiency was seen at 26,8% (n=160) patients. The aggravation effect has been noted at 7% (n=42) of patients. Drug compliance (for >1 year) was 61,8% (n=369). High efficiency in group 2-3 year (n=134) was 53,8% (n=72), low efficiency in 34,3% (n=46), aggravation in 11,9% cases (n=16); in group >3-7 years (n=253) high efficiency 59,7% (n=151), low 32% (n=81), aggravation in 8,3% (n=21); in pediatric population >7 years (n=132) high efficiency 81,8% (n=108), low effect in 15,2% (n=20), and 3% aggravation (n=4); in adult population >18 years (n=78) the efficiency was 82,1% (n=64), low effect 16,6% (n=13) and aggravation in 1,3% (n=1). So, topiramate is highly effective medication in the therapy of idiopathic generalized epilepsies without absences and in symptomatic/cryptogenic focal forms of epilepsy. Topiramate could also be useful additional drug in the therapy of epileptic encephalopathies. With the increasing of patients’ age the efficiency of topiramate raised, while the aggravation risks decreased. Peak of aggravation potential was seen in early childhood population and maximal effectiveness in children up 7 years and adult population.

Syndrome Leigh (SL) or subacute necrotizing encephalomyelopathy - is a rare hereditary genetically heterogeneous disease from the group of mitochondrial encephalomyopathies. Twenty-seven children with SL were examined using clinical, laboratory (measuring lactate levels), MRI and molecular-genetic (polymerase chain reaction genotyping of 9 exons of the SURF1 gene) studies. The mean age of manifestation was 11,6 months. The main manifestations of SL were: delay of psychomotor development, diffuse muscle hypertonic, cerebellar syndrome, ophthalmoparesis, hypertrichosis. The disease had a progressive course with the loss of acquired skills. The blood lactate concentration was increased on average up to 3,1 mM/ml (from 1,9 to 5,1 mM/ml) compared to normal values (1,8 mM/ml). Brain MRI revealed the subcortical and cortical atrophy (80% of cases), symmetrical distinctly delineated hyperintense lesions on T2-weighted images (demyelization) in the basal ganglia and the brain stem (50%), as well as in the cerebellum (25%). Genotyping identified 7 different mutations. The most frequent (64,8%) was the deletion of 2 nucleotides (845delCT) in exon 8 that was in line with early data of Polish researchers thus indicating the Slavic origin of this mutation. Other mutations (574-575insCTGT, 311-321del10insAT and IVS8-1G>) were also frequent in the Russian population.