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. 2017 Aug 30:13:2301-2306.
doi: 10.2147/NDT.S141486. eCollection 2017.

Risk of post-traumatic epilepsy after severe head injury in patients with at least one seizure

Wei Chen  1 , Ming-De Li  2 , Gui-Fang Wang  1 , Xia-Feng Yang  1 , Lin Liu  1 , Fan-Gang Meng  3
Affiliations

Risk of post-traumatic epilepsy after severe head injury in patients with at least one seizure

Wei Chen et al. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. .

Abstract

Background: To explore the incidence and risk factors, including type of seizures for post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Subjects and methods: This was a retrospective follow-up study of patients discharged from Liaocheng People's Hospital between March 2011 and June 2015 with a diagnosis of post-traumatic seizures. Risk factors for PTE were evaluated in 68 inpatients by using Kaplan-Meier curves and the Cox model.

Results: Complete clinical information was available for 68 patients. A total of 54 cases (79.4%) were diagnosed as presenting with PTE, occurring from 10 days to 179 months after severe TBI. Nineteen out of 54 cases (35.2%) had been defined as PTE within the first 6 months after the trauma, 17 cases (31.5%) within 7-12 months, 8 cases (14.8%) within 13-24 months, 2 cases (3.7%) within 25-36 months, and 8 cases (14.8%) within 37-179 months after the TBI. The Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that simple partial seizures, surgical treatment, and onset of seizures occurring within 6 months after injury were associated with PTE.

Conclusions: The Cox model indicated that, for patients aged >34 years at the time of injury, the PTE risk was 2.55 times greater than for those aged ≤34 years. In addition, simple partial seizures, surgical treatment and onset of seizures occurring within 6 months after injury were significant risk factors for the development of PTE.

Keywords: post-traumatic epilepsy; post-traumatic seizure; risk factor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan–Meier product limits estimates for probability of survival by the time from injury to onset of seizure. Abbreviations: m, months; TBI, traumatic brain injury.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan–Meier product limits estimates for probability of survival by treatment methods. Abbreviation: TBI, traumatic brain injury.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Kaplan–Meier product limits estimates for probability of survival by the type of seizures. Abbreviations: CPS, complex partial seizures; CPS-G, complex partial seizures secondary generalized; SPS, simple partial seizures; TBI, traumatic brain injury.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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