Intracerebral hemorrhage and epileptic seizure : frequency, localization and seizure types

Abstract

Introduction. Among 2.8-18.7% of the patients that suffered from spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) develop seizures. Previous studies suggest that most important contributors to developing subsequent seizures are: volume and localization of hematoma, cortical involvement and age. Aims: To determine the occurrence of new epileptic seizures in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage and to analyze it with respect to the patient’s age, gender, presence of premorbid risk factors, localization of the hematoma and the type of the seizures. Methods. This study is retrospective in design, with study population of 308 patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage admitted to our clinic in the period between 2008 and 2014. Analyzed premorbid risk factors for ICH are: hypertension, smoking, alcohol uptake. According to the computer tomography (CT) of brain findings the patients was divided in two groups: lobar and thalamic (deep). By the time of presents of seizures, they were classified as early (within 1 week of ICH) or late (more than 1 week after ICH). Also we analyzed the seizures type and we divided them in four groups: simple partial, partial complex, secondary generalized and tonic clonic generalized seizures. Results. Arterial hypertension was revealed in 78% of the patients with spontaneous supratentorial ICH. Epileptic seizures developed in 8.2% of analyzed patients, most of them in the first week of brain bleeding. Lobar ICH had 78.6% of the patients, with frontal localization was 44% of patients with lobar ICH, and most of them had simple partial and partial complex seizures. Conclusion. Cortical involvement, large volume of hematoma, may be a factor for provoked seizures, especially in the first days of brain bleeding.