Uses of Newer Anticonvulsants: An Update

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Sir: Since the publication of a recent review of the psychiatric uses of newer anticonvulsants in the Companion,¹ 2 new anticonvulsants have come to market. The first is levetiracetam,which is U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved as an adjunctive agent in treating partial-onset seizures in adults withepilepsy.² Its precise mechanism of action is not known, but does not appear to be due to any interaction with known mechanisms involved in inhibitory or excitatory neurotransmission.³