Epileptic seizures in clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease: report from a geriatric medicine population

Abstract

A diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with an increased risk of unprovoked seizures. In this observational study, we analyzed first seizures in a sample of elderly subjects with AD hospitalized in an acute geriatric care unit. Only 2.5% of the hospitalized AD patients were admitted for a first seizure. The seizures are not necessarily symptomatic of AD. Symptomatic cause must be ruled out in order to classify the syndrome before introducing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). In practice, only recurrent unprovoked seizures or symptomatic location- related epilepsy with a high risk of recurrence should be treated with AEDs.