Table 3.
Baseline characteristics of patients according to levetiracetam status
| Characteristics | LEV-naïve [n = 265] | LEV prior—insufficient efficacy [n = 481] | LEV prior—adverse events [n = 215] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 44 (32–57) | 44 (32–54)‡ | 48 (37–61)* |
| Male sex | 127 (47.9) | 218 (45.3) | 111 (51.6) |
| Age at epilepsy onset, years [N = 960a] | 14 (5–29) | 12 (5–20)*‡ | 18 (7–44)* |
| Duration of epilepsy, years [N = 960a] | 23 (10–36) | 26 (16–39)*‡ | 20 (9–37) |
| Type of seizure (N = 855a) | |||
| Focal onset | 176 (74.3) | 318 (75.2) | 142 (72.8) |
| Focal to bilateral tonic-clonic | 52 (21.9) | 71 (16.8) | 34 (17.4) |
| Focal onset and focal to bilateral tonic-clonicb | 9 (3.8) | 34 (8.0) | 19 (9.7) |
| Etiology | |||
| Structural | 148 (55.9) | 233 (48.4) | 132 (61.4) |
| Genetic | 8 (3.0) | 17 (3.5) | 9 (4.2) |
| Immune | 2 (0.8) | 5 (1.0) | 4 (1.9) |
| Infectious | 7 (2.6) | 15 (3.1) | 2 (0.9) |
| Unknown | 100 (37.7) | 211 (43.9) | 68 (31.6) |
| Number of previous ASMs [N = 956a] | 3 (2–5) | 7 (5–9)*‡ | 5 (3–7)* |
| Number of concomitant ASMs [N = 960a] | 2 (1–2) | 2 (2–3)*‡ | 2 (1–3) |
| Concomitant use of EiASM(s) at baseline [N = 839a] | 113 (48.7) | 237 (57.3) | 107 (55.4) |
| Concomitant use of SCB(s) at baseline [N = 839a] | 193 (83.2) | 359 (86.7) | 172 (89.1) |
| Baseline monthly seizure frequencyc | 5 (2–15) | 7 (3–20)*‡ | 4 (1–12)* |
Data are expressed as median (IQR) for continuous variables, and n (%) for categorical variables
ASMs antiseizure medications, BRV brivaracetam, EiASMs enzyme-inducing ASMs, IQR interquartile range, LEV levetiracetam, SCBs sodium channel blockers
*p < 0.05 versus the LEV-naive group
‡p < 0.05 versus the LEV prior—adverse events group
aN represents the total number of patients for whom data in question were available
bPatients presenting both focal onset and focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizures
cBased on the number of seizures during the 90 days before starting adjunctive BRV