Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic benefits, safety and tolerability of opicapone in a centre’s clinical practice.
Background: Opicapone is a recent treatment for motor fluctuations of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) under levodopa therapy. This drug has proven efficacy and safety in clinical trials.
Method: Retrospective study, with evaluation of clinically relevant data from hospital visits of PD patients that initiated opicapone from January 2019 to December 2019. Patients’ and clinicians’ perception of symptom improvement was objectified by Clinical Global Impression of Change Scale (PGI-C and CGI-C, respectively). Changes in total daily levodopa equivalent dose (LED), adverse events (AEs), dropouts and reasons for discontinuation were also evaluated.
Results: Opicapone was initiated in 35 PD patients (mean age: 71,2±8,9 years;63% men) and 26 had at least one revaluation. PGI-C (2,88±1,07 points) and CGI-C (2,86±0,56 points) revealed a perception of improvement of PD symptoms soon after initiation, by both clinicians and patients. The introduction of opicapone led to LED reduction in 13 patients (mean decrease: 226,5±125,6mg). Nineteen patients experienced at least one of the following AEs: dyskinesia (n=12), orthostatic hypotension (n=4), constipation (n=3), dizziness (n=3), hallucinations (n=2), dry mouth (n=1) and confusional state (n=1). Most of the dyskinesia events occurred in patients already experiencing dyskinesia at baseline (n=10;83,3%). Opicapone was discontinued in 6 patients due to AEs. The most common event leading to discontinuation was dyskinesia (n=3;50%).
Conclusion: In this real-life evaluation, in line with data from clinical trials, opicapone was well tolerated and had therapeutic benefits in patients with advanced PD, including LED reduction. Dyskinesia, reflecting greater dopaminergic availability, was the most common side effect and the leading cause of discontinuation.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
F. Carvalho, J. Silva, J. Araújo, M. Rodrigues. Opicapone in Parkinson’s disease – a centre’s real-life experience [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2020; 35 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/opicapone-in-parkinsons-disease-a-centres-real-life-experience/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2020
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/opicapone-in-parkinsons-disease-a-centres-real-life-experience/