title: Post-traumatic epilepsy in children-experience from a tertiary referral center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Post-traumatic epilepsy after a traumatic brain injury occurs in 10%-20% of children. Unfortunately, a biomarker that could provide prognostic information about both post-traumatic epilepsy and cognitive development is lacking. In this first of a series of studies, we have reviewed and analyzed clinical variables in children following traumatic brain injury to understand the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of post-traumatic epilepsy in our urban population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective electronic chart review of patients who had suffered traumatic brain injury and subsequently evaluated at Children's Hospital of Michigan from 2002 to 2012. Various epidemiologic and clinical variables were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients who had severe traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic epilepsy had an abnormal acute head computed tomography. These patients had increased number of different seizure types, increased risk of intractability of epilepsy, and were on multiple antiepileptic drugs. Hypomotor seizure was the most common seizure type in these patients. There was a high prevalence of patients who suffered nonaccidental trauma, all of whom had severe traumatic brain injury.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates a need for biomarkers in children following traumatic brain injury to reliably evaluate the risk of post-traumatic epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Epilepsy, Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; Divison of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan. Electronic address: jun.park@uhhospitals.org.
authors.forename: Jun T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Divison of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Harry T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Chugani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: brain injury and seizures; epileptic spasms; hypomotor seizures; nonaccidental trauma (NAT); post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE); seizure semiology; traumatic brain injury (TBI)