Perampanel treatment in highly drug-resistant epilepsies including nonsurgical candidates and failed surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of perampanel (PER) treatment for patients with highly drug-resistant epilepsies (HDRE) including nonsurgical candidates and failed surgery in real-world setting. METHODS: All patients who were treated with PER during June 2015 to August 2019 were selected. Primary outcomes were percentage of seizure reduction, responder rate, and seizure freedom rate. Seizure frequency after taking PER at 3 and 12 months were compared with baseline seizure frequency within the same time period prior to starting PER. Secondary outcomes were retention rate, side effects, and predictors for a response to PER. Descriptive statistics and the Kernel regression model were employed. RESULTS: Forty-one patients received PER treatment during the study period. Six patients who had no baseline seizure frequency recordings were excluded, for a total of 35 patients included for analysis. Mean age was 40.06 years (SD 12.34). All were highly resistant to several antiseizure drugs (ASDs) with a median number of previously failed ASDs of 8 items. Eleven, 16, 5, and 3 patients were lesional, nonlesional focal epilepsy, nonsurgical candidate, and failed surgery, respectively. At 3 months after PER treatment, the median percentage of seizure reduction was 20 % (-35.71, 100), the responder rate was 22.86 % (8/35), and the seizure freedom rate was 17.14% (6/35). At 12 months after PER treatment, the corresponding outcomes were 25% (-20.57, 91.60), 22.58% (7/31), and 9.68% (3/31), respectively. Retention rates at 3 and 12 months were 100% and 91.43% (32/35), respectively. Nineteen patients (54.29%) experienced side effects from PER. Side effects were somnolence (6/35), dizziness (3/35), irritability (2/35), and ataxia (2/35), and one each for weight loss, nausea, headache, insomnia, verbal aggressivity, and depression. Median duration for 2-mg dose increment was 2.2 months. CONCLUSIONS: In real-world practice, slow-titration PER regimen is well-tolerable and shows benefit in helping control seizures in patients with very difficult-to-treat HDRE.