AUTHOR=Pingue Valeria , Gentili Marta , Losurdo Anna , Clementi Emilio , Nardone Antonio 

TITLE=Levetiracetam Improves Upper Limb Spasticity in a Patient With Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome: A Case Report

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.00070

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2020.00070

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>Severe spasticity is a frequent and disabling complication in patients presenting disorders of consciousness (DOC) that hinders their rehabilitative process, and is strongly correlated with pain reducing patients’ quality of life. In these patients, abnormal postures may occur as an expression of severe brain damage. Here we present the case of a 52-year-old man in decorticate rigidity following a hypoxic–ischemic encephalopathy due to myocardial infarction who showed improvement of spasticity of upper limbs following intake of levetiracetam combined with the conventional neurorehabilitation program.</p>