Characteristics of epileptic seizures after ischemic stroke

Cerebral infarctions are one of the most important causes of late onset epilepsy. We have studied 35 patients who presented epileptic seizures after ischemic stroke. All of them had the first seizure at least 24 hours after the stroke, and they had at least one recurrence of seizure. The objective was to determine the main characteristics of these seizures and to correlate them to clinical and laboratorial findings. The interval between the stroke and the first seizure was 3 to 1650 days. Late onset seizures (>14 days) were present in 89%, they occurred predominantly 6 to 12 months after stroke. Partial seizures (31/35) were more frequent than generalized ones. Status epilepticus occurred in only 3 cases. Most of the patients (30/35) had occasional seizures (less than or equal to 1 seizure monthly). There were no association between seizure type and the time interval between the stroke and the first seizure, neither with the seizure frequency. The most frequent EEG finding was focal slowing of cerebral activity. Pharmacological control was easily obtained. No patient needed more than one drug for seizure control.