Efficacy, Safety of Eslicarbazepine Acetate in Elderly Patients Examined

The following article is part of conference coverage from the American Epilepsy Society’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. The Neurology Advisor’s staff will be reporting breaking news associated with research conducted by leading experts in neurology. Check back for the latest news from AES 2018.

NEW ORLEANS — Patients with epilepsy aged ≥60 years taking eslicarbazepine acetate (ESL) showed significantly higher rates of response and seizure freedom compared with patients younger than 60 years taking ESL, according to research presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, held November 30-December 4, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Euro-Esli study was a pooled sub-analysis of real-world data from 14 clinical practice studies of European patients with epilepsy being treated with ESL, and it is the largest clinical practice study of ESL to date. Efficacy end points included responder rate (at least 50% reduction in seizure frequency) and seizure freedom rate (being seizure free at least since previous visit), which were assessed at months 3, 6, and 12, and at the last visit.

Tolerability and safety were assessed through continual evaluation of adverse events and discontinuation of ESL due to adverse events. Data of participants aged 60 years (=60) at the start of the study were compared with those younger than 60 (<60) at study entry (N=2058; 17.4%, =60, 82.6%, <60).

Responder rates and seizure freedom rates were significantly higher for participants =60 compared with those <60 at all time points. At 12 months, responder rates were 83.9% among those =60 vs 73.7% for those <60 (χ²=9.33; P =.002), and rates of seizure freedom were 58.5% among those =60 vs 37.1% for those <60 (χ²=31.16; P <.001). The overall incidence of adverse events was significantly higher among participants =60 vs those <60 (41.4% vs 32.5%; χ²=10.20; P =.001); however, the 2 groups had similar discontinuation rates (16.2% vs 13.1%; χ²=2.35; P =.126;).

Study investigators concluded that these findings show superior efficacy of ESL for patients =60. Although rates of adverse events were higher for this age group, the comparable discontinuation rates between groups suggest that “ESL was not more frequently associated with intolerable [adverse events] in elderly patients relative to those of younger age. These data support the use of ESL as an effective and well tolerated treatment option for elderly patients with focal epilepsy.”

Funding for this study was provided by Eisai.

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Reference

Villanueva V, Santágueda P, McMurray R. Effectiveness, safety and tolerability of eslicarbazepine acetate in elderly patients (=60 years) treated in European clinical practice. Presented at: 72nd Annual Meeting of the American Epilepsy Society; November 30-December 4, 2018; New Orleans, LA. Poster 3.308.