SIGNIFICANCE OF EPILEPTIC SEIZURES OCCURRING DURING THE 1ST WEEK OF TRAUMATIC COMA

Clinically evident epileptic seizures were observed in 145 patients during the first week of traumatic coma. They frequently occurred during the first day in young subjects in reactive coma, and were often isolated attacks. When seen at a later stage they are more common in adults with non-reactive coma. The partial or generalised nature of the seizures, the depth of the coma, and the chronological order in which the seizures appear have no bearing on the etiology ; the only positive finding was that recurrent seizures were more frequent in patients with intracranial hematoma (18,6% of the patients). The early appearance of seizures does not worsen the prognosis of renctive coma or non-reactive coma in young people. Critical discharges without clinical manifestations were present in 37 patients with traumatic coma during the first week. The average age of these injured patients was higher, and the prognosis for non-reactive coma worse in this group. The comatous state does not modify the clinical aspects or the etiological significance of these early post-traumatic discharges. © 1979 Masson, Paris.