Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025
Pupillary Response as Assessment of Effective Seizure Induction by Electroconvulsive Therapy
Published on: April 11, 2019
Effectiveness of perampanel as the only add-on: Retrospective, multicenter, observational real-life study on epilepsy
Sara Gasparini1,2, Edoardo Ferlazzo1,2,3, Sabrina Neri1,2
1Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Insights
Perampanel (PER) is an effective add-on treatment for epilepsy, showing high retention rates and seizure control in real-world use. Adverse events were less common than in clinical trials, confirming PER
Area of Science:
- Epilepsy research
- Pharmacology
- Clinical neurology
Background:
- Perampanel (PER) is an adjunctive antiseizure medication (ASM) for epilepsy.
- Clinical trial data show PER's efficacy and tolerability.
- Limited real-world data exist on PER as an only add-on treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the real-world effectiveness and safety of PER.
- To assess PER's retention rate, seizure frequency, and adverse events.
- To investigate PER's use as the sole add-on therapy for epilepsy.
Main Methods:
- Observational, retrospective, multicenter study.
- 503 patients with focal or generalized epilepsy (>12 years) received PER as the only add-on ASM.
- Data collected at 3, 6, and 12 months on retention, seizure frequency, and adverse events.
Main Results:
- High retention rate (89% at 12 months).
- Early add-on PER use correlated with higher seizure freedom rates at 3 months (66% vs 53%).
- Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 25% of patients, lower than in trials.
Conclusions:
- Confirms PER's efficacy and safety in real-world epilepsy treatment.
- Demonstrates effectiveness as an only add-on therapy, even in patients with long-standing epilepsy.
- Provides robust data supporting PER's clinical utility.
Objective:
Perampanel (PER) is indicated as adjunctive antiseizure medication (ASM) in adolescents and adults with epilepsy. Data from clinical trials show good efficacy and tolerability, while limited information is available on the routine clinical use of PER, especially when used as only add-on treatment.
Methods:
We performed an observational, retrospective, multicenter study on people with focal or generalized epilepsy aged >12 years, consecutively recruited from 52 Italian epilepsy centers. All patients received PER as the only add-on treatment to a background ASM according to standard clinical practice. Retention rate, seizure frequency, and adverse events were recorded at 3, 6, and 12 months after PER introduction. Subanalyses by early or late use of PER and by concomitant ASM were also conducted.
Results:
Five hundred and three patients were included (age 36.5 ± 19.9 years). Eighty-one percent had focal epilepsy. Overall, the retention rate was very high in the whole group (89% at 12 months) according with efficacy measures. No major differences were observed in the subanalyses, although patients who used PER as early add-on, as compared with late add-on, more often reached early seizure freedom at 3-month follow-up (66% vs 53%, P = .05). Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 25%, far less commonly than in PER randomized trials.
Significance:
This study confirms the good efficacy and safety of PER for focal or generalized epilepsy in real-life conditions. We provide robust data about its effectiveness as only add-on treatment even in patients with a long-standing history of epilepsy and previously treated with many ASMs.
More Related Videos
10:22Interictal High Frequency Oscillations Detected with Simultaneous Magnetoencephalography and Electroencephalography as Biomarker of Pediatric Epilepsy
Published on: December 6, 2016
08:23A Multimodal Imaging- and Stimulation-based Method of Evaluating Connectivity-related Brain Excitability in Patients with Epilepsy
Published on: November 13, 2016
Related Concept Videos
01:20Antiepileptic Drugs: Potassium Channel Activators
Ezogabine has gained approval as an adjunctive treatment...
01:14Antiepileptic Drugs: Glutamate Antagonists
01:18Antiepileptic Drugs: GABAergic Pathway Potentiators
The key GABA pathway potentiators used in epilepsy management are as follows.
Benzodiazepines are a well-known class of drugs used for...
01:24Epilepsy and Seizures: Overview
Various factors can trigger epilepsy, including genetic factors, brain damage, metabolic causes, and unknown etiology. Diagnosis of epilepsy involves electroencephalography (EEG), which...