Analysis of risk factors related to early post-traumatic seizures and post-traumatic epilepsy

Abstract

Objective: We investigated factors associated with early post-traumatic seizures (EPTSs) and post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) to determine factors associated with PTE in comparison with previous reports. Methods: We enrolled 78 patients with acute head trauma from January 2008 to December 2011 (range of follow-up duration, 5–12.9 years). We conducted a comparative analysis of various factors in both groups.Results: Nine of the 78 patients experienced EPTSs during admission, and 18 patients developed PTE. All nine patients with EPTSs progressed to PTE. Treatment type, academic background, marital status, hemoglobin at hospital day 1 (HD#1), Glasgow coma scale (GCS) at admission, GCS at discharge, and the modified Rankin score (mRS) at the final visit were significantly different between the nine patients with EPTSs and the 69 patients who did not have EPTSs via the Mann-Whitney U-test. Statistically significant differences were identified in the type of brain trauma, treatment type, marital status, glucose level at HD#1, GCS at admission, GCS at discharge, and mRS at the final visit by the Mann-Whitney U-test between the 18 patients who developed PTE and the 60 patients who did not develop PTE. Conclusion: The patients with PTSs and PTE were relatively younger and were more likely to be unmarried. It is premature to draw a firm conclusion, but more active administration and long-term meticulous follow-up may be needed for young, highly educated, unmarried male patients. In addition, the analysis of more patients over a longer period of time will be needed.