@article{3020410, title = "Α multicenter retrospective study evaluating brivaracetam in the treatment of epilepsies in clinical practice", author = "Stefanatou, M. and Kapetanou, E.V. and Kimiskidis, V.K. and Papaliagkas, V. and Polychronopoulos, P. and Markoula, S. and Charisiou, K. and Kazis, D. and Verentzioti, A. and Patrikelis, P. and Alexoudi, A. and Gatzonis, S.", journal = "Pharmaceutics", year = "2021", volume = "14", number = "2", pages = "1-11", publisher = "MDPI", issn = "1999-4923", doi = "10.3390/ph14020165", keywords = "brivaracetam; levetiracetam, adolescent; adult; age; aged; Article; behavior disorder; clinical practice; controlled study; disease duration; drug dose titration; drug efficacy; drug response; drug substitution; drug tolerability; drug withdrawal; epilepsy; epileptic patient; female; focal onset seizure; follow up; generalized epilepsy; human; major clinical study; male; monotherapy; myoclonus epilepsy; observational study; retrospective study; seizure; side effect; tonic clonic seizure; unspecified side effect", abstract = "Brivaracetam (BRV) is the latest approved antiepileptic drug. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of BRV in everyday clinical practice. In this retrospective, observational, multicenter study, data from epilepsy patients receiving BRV from January 2018 to July 2019 were analyzed. Patients with age ≥16 suffering from any type of epilepsy and having at least one follow up encounter after dose titration were included. 156 consecutive patients were included in the study. The mean age was 40 (16–84 years) and the mean duration of epilepsy was 21 years. Of the 156 patients, 81% were diagnosed with focal-onset seizures, 16% with generalized seizures, while 3% suffered from unclassified seizures. Nine patients received BRV as monother-apy as a switching therapy. At the first follow up visit, seizure cessation was achieved in 56 (36%) patients and the rate of ≥50% responders was 36%. Twenty four patients (15%) remained un-changed; six patients (4%) were recorded with increased seizure frequency, while the remaining 9% had a response of less than 50%. Twenty-six patients (17%) showed clinically significant adverse events, but none were life threatening. Brivaracetam seems to be an effective, easy to use and safe antiepileptic drug in the clinical setting. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland." }