title: Seizures and the Role of Anticonvulsants After Traumatic Brain Injury.
abstract: Posttraumatic seizures are a common complication of traumatic brain injury. Posttraumatic epilepsy accounts for 20% of symptomatic epilepsy in the general population and 5% of all epilepsy. Early posttraumatic seizures occur in more than 20% of patients in the intensive care unit and are associated with secondary brain injury and worse patient outcomes. Most posttraumatic seizures are nonconvulsive and therefore continuous electroencephalography monitoring should be the standard of care for patients with moderate or severe brain injury. The literature shows that posttraumatic seizures result in secondary brain injury caused by increased intracranial pressure, cerebral edema and metabolic crisis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, 757 Westwood Plaza, Suite 6236, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Electronic address: Zimmermann.Lara.L@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lara L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Rockville, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Diaz-Arrastia
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, 757 Westwood Plaza, Suite 6236, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Vespa
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000070642:Brain Injuries, Traumatic / Q000150:complications*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006801:Humans; D012640:Seizures / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants
keywords: Continuous electroencephalography; Metabolic crisis; Nonconvulsive seizure; Posttraumatic seizure; Secondary brain injury; Seizure; Status epilepticus; Traumatic brain injury