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Abstract Objective To assess the effectiveness and tolerability of brivaracetam (BRV) in adults with epilepsy by specific comorbidities and epilepsy etiologies. Methods EXPERIENCE/EPD332 was a pooled analysis of individual patient records from several non-interventional studies of patients with epilepsy initiating BRV in clinical practice. Outcomes included ≥ 50% reduction from baseline in seizure frequency, seizure freedom (no seizures within prior 3 months), continuous seizure freedom (no seizures since baseline), BRV discontinuation, and treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) at 3, 6, and 12 months. Analyses were performed for all adult patients (≥ 16 years of age) and stratified by comorbidity and by etiology at baseline (patients with cognitive/learning disability CLD, psychiatric comorbidity, post-stroke epilepsy, brain tumor−related epilepsy BTRE, and traumatic brain injury−related epilepsy TBIE). Results At 12 months, ≥ 50% seizure reduction was achieved in 35.6% ( n = 264), 38.7% ( n = 310), 41.7% ( n = 24), 34.1% ( n = 41), and 50.0% ( n = 28) of patients with CLD, psychiatric comorbidity, post-stroke epilepsy, BTRE, and TBIE, respectively; and continuous seizure freedom was achieved in 5.7% ( n = 318), 13.7% (n = 424), 29.4% (n = 34), 11.4% ( n = 44), and 13.8% ( n = 29), respectively. During the study follow-up, in patients with CLD, psychiatric comorbidity, post-stroke epilepsy, BTRE, and TBIE, 37.1% ( n = 403), 30.7% ( n = 605), 33.3% ( n = 51), 39.7% ( n = 68), and 27.1% ( n = 49) of patients discontinued BRV, respectively; and TEAEs since prior visit at 12 months were reported in 11.3% ( n = 283), 10.0% ( n = 410), 16.7% ( n = 36), 12.5% ( n = 48), and 3.0% ( n = 33), respectively. Conclusions BRV as prescribed in the real world is effective and well tolerated among patients with CLD, psychiatric comorbidity, post-stroke epilepsy, BTRE, and TBIE.
Szaflarski et al. (Mon,) studied this question.