Epilepsy Risk Found in Stroke Patients

A long follow-up study by researchers in Norway involving data from almost 500 patients has shown that 3.1% of stroke patients develop epilepsy. The finding was reported in the August 2005 issue of Epilepsia.

In the study, those patients who had severe strokes had five times the risk of developing epilepsy post-stroke compared to those with less-severe strokes. The risk of developing epilepsy after a stroke was not found to be influenced by treatment in a specialized stroke unit, age at onset of stroke, or geographical location. It is important for healthcare workers to be aware of this post-stroke risk. If they detect epileptic seizures in stroke patients, they can administer anti-epileptic drugs, which are often effective in preventing further seizures.

"It is important to perform further studies to find out whether newer treatments, such as acute thrombolysis can reduce the frequency of post-stroke epilepsy,” observed Morten I. Lossius, director of the department for education and research at the National Center for Epilepsy in Norway (Sandvika), which conducted the study.

"It is also important to try to improve the treatment of stroke patients beyond what today are known as the gold standards, which apart from thrombolysis, was followed in our study,” added Dr. Lossius. "New neuroprotective drugs and increased use of thrombolysis may play an important role in future treatment.”