1. Incidence of epilepsy and predictive factors of epileptic and non-epileptic seizures.
- Author
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Kotsopoulos I, de Krom M, Kessels F, Lodder J, Troost J, Twellaar M, van Merode T, and Knottnerus A
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Distribution, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diagnosis, Differential, Electroencephalography, Epilepsy classification, Epilepsy physiopathology, Female, Humans, Incidence, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Netherlands epidemiology, Odds Ratio, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Seizures classification, Seizures physiopathology, Sex Distribution, Epilepsy diagnosis, Epilepsy epidemiology, Seizures diagnosis, Seizures epidemiology
- Abstract
Purpose: To estimate the incidence of unprovoked seizures (US) and epilepsy in a general population from the southern part of the Netherlands, in relation to age, sex, etiology and seizure type, and to identify predictive factors of the epileptic and non-epileptic seizures., Methods: All patients aged > or =14 years with a first seizure or who had undiagnosed seizures before the study period were included. Patients were identified from different sources and were independently evaluated and classified by a team of neurologists. A predictive profile for the occurrence of epileptic and non-epileptic seizures was obtained by stepwise logistic regression analysis., Results: The overall annual incidence was 55/100,000 and 30/100,000 for US and epilepsy, respectively. The age-specific annual incidence of US and epilepsy increased with age and reached 120/100,000 and 62/100,000 for the > or =65 years of age group, respectively. The incidence of epilepsy and US in males was higher than in females and partial seizures prevailed over generalized seizures (40 versus 9/100,000). In up to 35% of the cases with US or epilepsy, the etiology was mainly cerebrovascular disease and brain tumors. Predictors for epileptic versus non-epileptic seizures of organic origin were an epileptiform EEG pattern (OR=0.06) versus a history of hypertension (OR=2.8) or cardiovascular disease (OR=5.4). Strong predictors for seizures of non-organic origin were female sex (OR=2.2) and head injury (OR=2.4)., Conclusions: The incidence of US and epilepsy (overall, and age-, sex-, seizure-specific) was similar to those reported by other developed countries. The predictive factors found in this study may assist in the early diagnosis of seizures.
- Published
- 2005
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