Post‐stroke epilepsy in Polish paediatric patients

AimThe aim of this study was to characterize a group of children with early and late remote seizures which occurred after arterial ischaemic stroke (AIS) and to find predictors of post‐stroke seizures. MethodThe study group, recruited in the Department of Neuropediatrics (Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland), comprised 78 patients who had had a stroke: 13 patients had early seizures occurring up to 7 days after the stroke, seven patients had late remote seizures occurring more than 7 days after the stroke, and 58 patients had no seizure. Univariate log‐rank tests and Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine predictors of the development of post‐stroke seizures. ResultsIn 13% of the patients with post‐stroke seizures, post‐stroke epilepsy had occurred. Patients with late remote seizures were younger than patients with no seizures. The frequencies of total anterior circulation infarct subtype as well as focal cerebral arteriopathy (FCA) were significantly higher in the subgroup with late seizures than in patients without seizures (71% vs 26%, p=0.014, odds ratio 7.17, and 100% vs 51%, p=0.015, respectively). Using multivariate Cox analysis, age at the time of the stroke (p=0.013), FCA (p=0.014), and the number of infarct focuses (p<0.001) were significantly associated with the length of time to the development of post‐stroke seizures. InterpretationYounger age, presence of FCA, and number of infarct focuses are predictors of post‐stroke...
Source: Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology - Category: Child Development Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research