Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Sep;7(5):527-531.
doi: 10.2217/THY.10.57.

Post-traumatic epilepsy: an overview

Rebecca M Verellen  1 , Jose E Cavazos  1
Affiliations

Post-traumatic epilepsy: an overview

Rebecca M Verellen et al. Therapy. 2010 Sep.

Abstract

Post-traumatic seizures (PTS) and post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) are complications from traumatic brain injury (TBI). PTE refers to recurrent and unprovoked PTS that occur at least 1 week after TBI. Seizures during the first week after TBI are considered provoked, an acute complication from head injury, while seizures occurring 1 week after TBI are considered a manifestation of PTE and if only a single seizure occurs it is known as late PTS. EEG and neuroimaging help in the diagnosis of PTE. Predictors for PTE include TBI severity, presence of intracranial bleeding and early PTS. Several clinical trials have demonstrated that antiepileptic drugs are effective in reducing the frequency of acute PTS, but do not appear to alter the natural history of late PTS or PTE.

Keywords: antiepileptic drugs; head injury; post-traumatic epilepsy; prophylaxis; seizures; traumatic brain injury.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Fisher RS, van Emde BW, Blume W, et al. Epileptic seizures and epilepsy: definitions proposed by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) Epilepsia. 2005;46:470–472. - PubMed
    1. Hauser WA, Annegers JF, Kurland LT. Prevalence of epilepsy in Rochester, Minnesota: 1940–1980. Epilepsia. 1991;32:429–445. - PubMed
    1. Frey LC. Epidemiology of posttraumatic epilepsy: a critical review. Epilepsia. 2003;44(Suppl 10):11–17. Thorough epidemiological review of post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) that provides important information on incidence and risk factors for developing PTE in both civilian and military populations, as well as the working definitions involved in PTE. - PubMed
    1. Jennett B. Early traumatic epilepsy. Incidence and significance after nonmissile head injuries. Arch Neurol. 1974;30(5):394–398. - PubMed
    1. Asikainen I, Kaste M, Sarna S. Early and late posttraumatic seizures in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation patients: brain injury factors causing late seizures and influence of seizures on long-term outcome. Epilepsia. 1998;40:584–589. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources