title: Stroke-related seizures and epilepsy.
abstract: No guidelines exist concerning risk factors, diagnosis, management and treatment of stroke-related seizures. Seizures related to intracerebral haemorrhages occur in 10.6%, while those related to ischaemic stroke appear in 8.6%. Early-onset seizures have a poor prognosis with a high in-hospital mortality rate. They occur significantly more often in patients with haemorrhagic strokes. The recurrence rate is low. Late-onset seizures occur mainly between 6 months and 2 years after stroke with a high recurrence rate. Patients with a partial anterior circulation syndrome, a large cortical infarct with irregular borders, located in the parieto-temporal regions, are mainly at risk. Post-stroke seizures are harmful and require treatment with antiepileptic drugs. Post-stroke EEG can help to predict those patients who are at risk of developing seizures. The difference between early- and late-onset seizures is arbitrary as 20% of seizures occurring in patients with a previous cerebral infarct are the clinical expression of a new stroke.
authors.affiliation: Stroke Unit, Department of Neurology, University Hospital, Gent, Belgium. jacques.dereuck@gmail.com
authors.forename: Jacques L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: De Reuck
mesh_terms: D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D013997:Time Factors