Myocardial infarction following convulsive and nonconvulsive seizures.
Myocardial infarction (MI) has been rarely reported in association with seizures, and only of convulsive type.


METHODS
We describe a series of five patients observed over a 4-year period, who presented MI immediately following seizures, either convulsive or nonconvulsive.


RESULTS
Patient 1 had pre-existent coronary disease (CD) and presented multiple focal nonconvulsive seizures. Patient 2 had no CD, normal coronary angiography and presented secondary generalized convulsive seizures. Patient 3 had no history of CD, normal angiography and had a first single convulsive seizure. Patient 4 had severe CD and suffered from a single convulsive event. Patient 5 had a partial and a generalized seizure and had no known CD.


CONCLUSIONS
MI following seizures is not an exceptional event and can occur in a spectrum of conditions including single or repeated, convulsive or nonconvulsive seizures, in patients with or without pre-existing coronary disease. We suggest that the occurrence of MI should be considered in epileptic patients during and shortly after seizures.
Montepietra
Sara
S
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy. efmontep@tin.it
Cattaneo
Luigi
L
Granella
Franco
F
Maurizio
Annarita
A
Sasso
Enrico
E
Pavesi
Giovanni
G
Bortone
Ermelinda
E
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004829:Epilepsy, Generalized / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000209:etiology*; D012640:Seizures / Q000150:complications*