Epilepsy: 83% of specialists used telemedicine, experts in comparison

The Covid pandemic has brought out even more clearly the need to introduce telemedicine in the management of epilepsy. According to an international research published in the journal Epilepsy & Behavior, as many as 83% of specialists from 35 countries in the Western world have used technology during the Covid pandemic with excellent results. On this theme and other issues, on the occasion of the 44th National Congress of the Italian League against Epilepsy (Lice), from 9 to 11 June, hundreds of specialists meet to take stock of the state of the disease in Italy . Epilepsy – a note reads – occurs during all ages of life, with greater incidence in children and the elderly. The experience of recent months has also highlighted the need to identify treatments that meet the characteristics of simplicity, speed and safety and are therefore more appropriate for use in telemedicine. Furthermore, since epilepsy is an unpredictable pathology, it also requires the possibility of self-management by the patient which includes, for example, active self-monitoring with electronic diaries on various devices such as smartphones, tablets or PCs, and monitoring passive with automated wearable devices to detect crises Unfortunately, the use of these tools in clinical practice is still very limited in our country and there are significant barriers to their implementation. A step forward was taken by the new PurpleCare Epilepsy Tracking App. It is a telemedicine platform dedicated to epilepsy patients that allows the patient to keep a seizure diary, receive medication reminders, exchange audio and video content and maintain an ongoing relationship with their doctor. The App will be available for patients for Android and Apple smartphones and will be downloadable from the respective stores. This was discussed during the symposium “RWE and the strength of networks: new outcomes in epilepsy”, promoted by Ucb Italia, in the context of a discussion between specialists on the need to improve the quality of life of epileptic patients. With this objective, the Real World Evidence ‘BrivaFirst’ study showed for the first time in patients with focal epilepsy, the value of using a new clinical outcome (sustained seizures response), defined as the sustained reduction of the frequency of seizures. This Real World approach, based on the outpatient / inpatient clinical practice of patients treated with brivaracetam as adjunct therapy, offers clear advantages, such as longer follow-ups than standard trials and larger and more representative sample sizes. ” As Ucb we are very proud to contribute to the continuous improvement of the quality of life of people with epilepsy – said Federico Chinni, CEO of Ucb Italia -. In particular, we are convinced that approaches such as telemedicine and Real World Evidence represent important innovations for an increasingly effective management of complex diseases such as epilepsy ”. he concluded.