Cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis following simple, complex partial, and generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
We observed postictal pleocytosis in 7 of 62 cerebrospinal fluid specimens obtained from 27 patients with epilepsy. Each patient had a known seizure disorder; none had any other cause for the pleocytosis. The maximum number of leukocytes was 12/mm3; the maximum number of erythrocytes was 190/mm3. Postictal pleocytosis was more common in samples obtained within 12 hours of the last seizure. Although previous studies have emphasized that pleocytosis is more common after repetitive generalized tonic-clonic seizures, we found increased leukocyte counts in cerebrospinal fluid after single simple, complex partial, or generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
Devinsky
O
O
Medical Neurology Branch, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Nadi
S
S
Theodore
W H
WH
Porter
R J
RJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000166:cytology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged