Efficacy of generic levetiracetam (epiterra) in monotherapy for epilepsy in adult patients: preliminary results

Abstract

Objective : to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam (LEV) (epiterra, TEVA) in adult patients with focal epilepsy (FE) or juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) who took the drug for і6 months as of December 15, 2014. Patients and methods. The efficacy of LEV as a generic (epiterra) used in monotherapy was analyzed in 23 patients with FE and in 4 female patients with JME who had taken the drug for ≥6 months. In FE, LEV was switched to epiterra because of the high cost of the former and inadequate efficacy/poor tolerability of initial antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in 17 and 6 cases, respectively. In JMA, epiterra was prescribed as initial therapy in 2 cases and, with the diagnosis being changed, in 2 more patients. Results and discussion. When LEV was switched to its generic, the indicators of efficacy, tolerability, quality of life, and a plain electroencephalogram (EEG) were significantly unchanged. When epiterra was substituted for other AEDs, the efficiency of its therapy was also significantly unchanged and tolerance, quality of life, and EEG characteristics were improved. Epiterra’s adverse reactions as sleepiness (n = 1) and a higher rate of mental processes (n=1) were observed exclusively when it was switched from another AED. However, they were transient (for 2–3 weeks) and seen during either dose adjustment or at the stage of transitional combined therapy. Dual therapy (valproate + epiterra) had to be used in only 1 female patient. Thus, the 6-month use of epiterra in adult patients with FE as an alternative to brand LEV did not deteriorate the clinical picture of the disease (remission rates and injury frequency and severity were significantly unchanged) baseline tolerability, quality of life, or plain EEG values. The findings suggest that the use of epiterra is highly promising in epileptology, particularly in FE and JME in adult patients.