| Summary: | Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that manifests as a variety of seizure types and syndromes, often of unknown etiology. There are two broad categories of epileptic seizures: partial- (or focal-) onset seizures (POS) and generalized seizures (GS). The goals of epilepsy treatment are to control seizures, avoid adverse events (AEs), and maintain or restore quality of life. Approximately half of the patients with a new diagnosis of epilepsy will become seizure-free with the first antiepileptic drug (AED) prescribed. Of those whose initial therapy is ineffective, about 10% to 20% will have a successful second drug trial. The second AED is typically increased to therapeutic levels before the first drug is reduced in order to prevent seizures or status epilepticus during the switch period. Brivaracetam is the second racetam AED to be approved in Canada and compared with the first, levetiracetam, brivaracetam displays higher selectivity and affinity for synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) in the brain. The objective of this review is to perform a systematic review of the beneficial and harmful effects of brivaracetam at doses between 25 mg and 100 mg twice daily for adjunctive therapy in the management of partial- (or focal-) onset seizures (POS) in adult patients with epilepsy who are not satisfactorily controlled with conventional therapy
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