title: [Etiology of epileptic crises in the geriatric patient. Results of a retrospective study].
abstract: We studied the etiology of seizures in 46 patients who developed seizures after age 65 years. The most frequent cause was cerebrovascular disease, accounting for 41.3% of all cases. Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease was made in 5 patients (10.8%). Other etiologies were; metabolic encephalopathies in 6.5%, craniocerebral trauma in 4.3% and glioma in 2.1%. The etiology of seizures remained unknown in 34.7%. They had generalized tonic-clonic seizures in 48%. They were partial or partial secondarily generalized in 44.1%. The role of Alzheimer's disease in late onset seizures has not been important enough in previous studies. We believe that a well-designed prospective study will let us know the real frequency of the causes of seizures in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Sección de Neurología, Hospital Central de la Cruz Roja Española San José y Santa Adela, Madrid.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Morlan Gracia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Balseiro Gómez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gil-Nagel Rein
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: González Guerrero
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez Martín
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
vernacular_title: Etiología de las crisis epilépticas en el paciente geriátrico. Resultados de un estudio retrospectivo.