Levetiracetam for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychiatric Symptoms Related to Epilepsy Trial (LAPSE)
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2025-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are increasingly recognized to have seizures in
addition to cognitive decline. Seizures may contribute to memory problems as well as other
symptoms common in AD like agitation, depression, or apathy. These symptoms are collectively
called neuro-psychiatric symptoms. Studies of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients
with AD have suggested that injury to certain parts of the brain can cause these
neuro-psychiatric symptoms. Based on this evidence, the investigators hypothesize that
seizures can also cause neuro-psychiatric symptoms in patients with AD and may be related to
the injury seen on MRI.
The current study will follow participants for 1 year and will involve participants with AD
who also have neuro-psychiatric symptoms. Participants will be examined with three brain wave
studies to assess for seizure-like activity. Participants with seizure-like activity will all
receive levetiracetam for 1 year. All participants will have their neuro-psychiatric
symptoms, cognitive abilities, quality of life, and AD severity assessed throughout the year.
The investigators plan to determine if levetiracetam changes the severity of the
participants' neuro-psychiatric symptoms compared to their baseline as well as compared to
participants without seizure-like activity. 65 participants will need to be recruited to test
the study hypotheses. The study will take place at Walter Reed National Military Medical
Center.