title: Epilepsy in the elderly.
abstract: There are many unique characteristics in elderly patients with epilepsy. The incidence of seizure in this age group is the highest of any age group and continues to increase as people live longer. Etiology of seizures is different than for adults and includes cerebrovascular disease, dementia, closed head injury, and metabolic encephalopathies. The elderly patient with epilepsy most often presents with complex partial seizures that have a higher recurrence rate than the younger population. The seizures are often difficult to diagnose since they present with atypical symptoms, particularly prolonged postictal symptoms, including memory lapses, confusion, altered mental status, and inattention. There are also therapeutic challenges due to age-related changes in pharmacokinetics, including variations in absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. These must be considered when selecting antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy to avoid harmful side effects. In addition, several of the AEDs have drug-drug interactions, a problem potentially exacerbated in this population of patients due to the use of medications for comorbid conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Gina Mapes
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Jetter
authors.forename: Jose E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Cavazos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017029:Epilepsy, Complex Partial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants