title: [Etiological and prognostic factors in the late onset epilepsy].
abstract: The etiological and prognostic factors of epilepsy starting in adulthood have been studied globally and especially in the case of that group of patients whose epilepsy begins after the age of 60. However, a specific study of patients whose epilepsy has begun after the age of 40 has not been made so far. In this report the above-mentioned factors are analysed in patients who were examined consecutively in our center between May 1986 and December 1990, all of whom had had their first epileptic attack after the age of 40. During this period 85 patients [55 (74.07%) women: 30 (35.3%) men: average age: 65.41 +/- 13.23] fit in to this category. The starting age was 61.6 +/- 13.5. The most frequent causes of the epileptic attacks were cerebrovascular accident (41%) and alcoholism (16%). In 1% of cases, the cause of the attacks could not be identified. Antecedents such as chronic alcoholism and tobacco addiction, were more frequent among the men (30.9% against 3.3% p: 0.014 and 49.1% against 0% p: 0.0000, respectively). The most frequent etiology in the age group comprised of patients between 40 and 50 years of age was alcohol and drug consumption. In the group of patients aged between 70 and 80, the most frequent finding in computerised cranial tomography was encephalic infarction. The factor linked to an unsatisfactory development of the epileptic process was nonobservance of therapeutical recommendations registered clinically as well as by means of the calculation of plasmatic levels of antiepileptic medicaments (p: 0.0000). Consumption of alcohol was the factor linked in a significant manner to the nonobservance of therapeutical recommendations (p: 0.0128).
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects
vernacular_title: Factores etiológicos y pronósticos en la epilepsia tardía.