Relationship of levetiracetam and obsessive-compulsive disorder: a case report

Abstract

Levetiracetam has gained wide acceptance in the treatment of epilepsy due to its broad-spectrum efficacy, the lack of significant drug–drug interactions, and a relatively benign side effect profile. However, in recent years, the treatment of epilepsy using levetiracetam has been associated with psychiatric side effects such as anxiety, irritability, hostility, depression, hallucinations, and, in some rare cases, obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this case report, we present and discuss onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms in a 55-year-old epileptic female patient, who did not have any previous psychiatric disorder, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, and who received levetiracetam treatment.

Keywords

• Epilepsy
• levetiracetam
• obsessive-compulsive disorder