Abstracts

Rationale: To assess data from patients at the Kork Epilepsy Centre, who were treated with add-on perampanel (PER) after the launch in September of 2012. Methods: Patients on add-on PER were consecutively collected and followed. Seizure outcome and tolerability were assessed. Only patients with a history of at least six months since the initiation of PER were considered. If data were not complete or patient contact was not successful, patients were excluded.Results: At cut-off in June of 2013, 74 patients could be analyzed. Mean age was 38.4 years (15 71 years). PER dosages ranged from 4 to 14 mg (mean 8.8 mg). All patients had PER once daily at bedtime. Seventy-one patients had focal epileptic seizures, the remaining four patients suffered from Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Considering the last three months of observation compared with baseline, 34 patients (46%) were responders with a reduction of seizure frequency by at least 50 %.Ten patients out of these (14% of all) were even seizure-free. Adverse events were reported in 40 patients (54%). Leading side effects were somnolence (n = 31, 42%) and dizziness (n = 13, 18%) followed by ataxia, irritability, falls, cognitive slowing and depression in single cases. 6-month retention rate was 70%. Conclusions: Our first clinical experiences with add-on PER in a highly selected group of difficult-to-treat epilepsies are promising.