Safinamide as Add-On Therapy to Levodopa in Mid- to Late-Stage Parkinson's Disease Fluctuating Patients: Post hoc Analyses of Studies 016 and SETTLE.

BACKGROUND: Studies 016 and SETTLE showed that safinamide was safe and effective as adjunct therapy in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) and motor fluctuations. The addition of safinamide to a stable dose of levodopa alone or with other antiparkinsonian medications significantly increased ON time with no/non-troublesome dyskinesia, decreased OFF time and improved Parkinson's symptoms. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effects of safinamide 100 mg/day on motor fluctuations and cardinal Parkinson's symptoms in specific patient subgroups using pooled data from Studies 016 and SETTLE. METHODS: Both studies were double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, phase 3 trials which enrolled patients with mid- to late-stage PD experiencing motor fluctuations while receiving optimized and stable doses of levodopa, alone or with other dopaminergic treatments. The present post-hoc analyses assessed the change from baseline in ON time (with no or non-troublesome dyskinesia) and OFF time in subgroups of patients who were receiving only levodopa at baseline, who were classified as "mild fluctuators" (daily OFF time ≤4 h), and who were receiving concomitant dopaminergic therapy, with or without amantadine, and the effects of safinamide versus placebo on individual cardinal PD symptoms during ON time. RESULTS: Safinamide significantly increased mean ON time (with no or non-troublesome dyskinesia) and reduced mean OFF time when used as first adjunct therapy in levodopa-treated patients and patients with mild motor fluctuations. Mean daily ON time (with no or non-troublesome dyskinesia) and OFF time were favorably changed, compared with placebo, to similar extents regardless of whether patients were receiving concomitant dopamine agonists, catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitors and amantadine. Additionally, safinamide improved bradykinesia, rigidity, tremor and gait. CONCLUSIONS: Safinamide was a safe and effective first adjunct therapy in levodopa-treated patients and improved 4/5 cardinal symptoms of PD while providing benefits to mild and non-mild fluctuators and patients receiving other concomitant dopaminergic therapies.

Clinical outcome following aleatory implantation of paclitaxel-eluting or sirolimus-eluting stents in complex coronary lesions.

We compared the clinical efficacy of paclitaxel-eluting stents (PESs) and sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) in a contemporary cohort of patients who had complex lesions. We collected data on 9-month outcomes in 529 patients (281 in the PES group and 248 in the SES group) whose de novo lesions were treated with drug-eluting stents. The end point was per-patient in-hospital and follow-up major adverse cardiac events, which were defined as a composite of death, myocardial infarction, and target vessel revascularization, including target lesion revascularization. There were no in-hospital deaths or repeat revascularizations; however, 5.7% of the PES group and 2% of the SES group developed a myocardial infarction (p = 0.04). At a median follow-up of 10.6 months, the rate of major adverse cardiac events was similar between groups (18.1% vs 21%, adjusted hazard ratio 0.85, 95% confidence interval 0.57 to 1.25), without any difference in the occurrence of death or myocardial infarction. Diabetes and total stent length were independent predictors of major adverse cardiac events. Propensity analysis confirmed the similarity between devices (hazard ratio 0.87, 95% confidence interval 0.62 to 1.25). Most restenoses were focal and only 2 patients required surgical revascularization. In conclusion, implantation of drug-eluting stents in complex lesions was associated with favorable results and most patients remained free from surgical revascularization at follow-up. Overall, the 2 available stent platforms had similar performance characteristics.