Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Seizures are common after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), with rates in the acute period approaching 5% with seizure prophylaxis in historical clinical trials. Post-traumatic seizures (PTS) are divided into categories: immediate PTS occur prior to resuscitation, typically in the field; early PT...

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Main Authors: Matthew Pease, Jonathan Elmer, Arka N. Mallela, Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez, David O. Okonkwo, Flora Hammond, Sergiu Abramovici, James F. Castellano, Wesley T. Kerr
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2024-11-01
Series:Neurotrauma Reports
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Online Access:https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/neur.2023.0110
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author Matthew Pease
Jonathan Elmer
Arka N. Mallela
Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez
David O. Okonkwo
Flora Hammond
Sergiu Abramovici
James F. Castellano
Wesley T. Kerr
author_facet Matthew Pease
Jonathan Elmer
Arka N. Mallela
Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez
David O. Okonkwo
Flora Hammond
Sergiu Abramovici
James F. Castellano
Wesley T. Kerr
author_sort Matthew Pease
collection DOAJ
description Seizures are common after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), with rates in the acute period approaching 5% with seizure prophylaxis in historical clinical trials. Post-traumatic seizures (PTS) are divided into categories: immediate PTS occur prior to resuscitation, typically in the field; early PTS occur from resuscitation to 7 days post-trauma; and late PTS occur thereafter. The relationship between immediate and early PTS, as well as their risk factors, are not well studied in modern cohorts. We performed a secondary analysis of a prospective database of severe TBI patients, defined as a post-resuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale ≤8, from a single institution. For the 579 patients included, rates of immediate and early PTS were 1.6% and 3.8%, respectively. We were unable to identify any clinical correlates for immediate seizures. In contrast, early PTS were associated with age (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–2.0; p < 0.01), hypoxia (3.3, 95% CI: 1.2–8.5; p = 0.02), and subdural hematoma (SDH) (2.8, 95% CI: 1.0–2.8; p = 0.04) in multivariable modeling. Patients with early PTS had higher rates of status epilepticus than those with immediate PTS (45% [n = 10/22] vs. 0% [n = 0/9]; p = 0.03). This supports the notion of immediate PTS, which typically occur in the field and may not reliably be deciphered from pathological posturing responses, as an entity distinct from early PTS. Status epilepticus was highly morbid, associated with a 70% mortality rate. Our previously identified markers may help risk-stratify patients who may warrant longer monitoring with continuous electroencephalography to detect and treat early PTS and corresponding status epilepticus risk.
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spelling doaj-art-a9f6fa74ae30481db2915bc3b446665d2025-08-20T02:30:31ZengMary Ann LiebertNeurotrauma Reports2689-288X2024-11-015133033610.1089/neur.2023.0110Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain InjuryMatthew Pease0Jonathan Elmer1Arka N. Mallela2Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez3David O. Okonkwo4Flora Hammond5Sergiu Abramovici6James F. Castellano7Wesley T. Kerr8Department of Neurosurgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.Seizures are common after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), with rates in the acute period approaching 5% with seizure prophylaxis in historical clinical trials. Post-traumatic seizures (PTS) are divided into categories: immediate PTS occur prior to resuscitation, typically in the field; early PTS occur from resuscitation to 7 days post-trauma; and late PTS occur thereafter. The relationship between immediate and early PTS, as well as their risk factors, are not well studied in modern cohorts. We performed a secondary analysis of a prospective database of severe TBI patients, defined as a post-resuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale ≤8, from a single institution. For the 579 patients included, rates of immediate and early PTS were 1.6% and 3.8%, respectively. We were unable to identify any clinical correlates for immediate seizures. In contrast, early PTS were associated with age (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1–2.0; p < 0.01), hypoxia (3.3, 95% CI: 1.2–8.5; p = 0.02), and subdural hematoma (SDH) (2.8, 95% CI: 1.0–2.8; p = 0.04) in multivariable modeling. Patients with early PTS had higher rates of status epilepticus than those with immediate PTS (45% [n = 10/22] vs. 0% [n = 0/9]; p = 0.03). This supports the notion of immediate PTS, which typically occur in the field and may not reliably be deciphered from pathological posturing responses, as an entity distinct from early PTS. Status epilepticus was highly morbid, associated with a 70% mortality rate. Our previously identified markers may help risk-stratify patients who may warrant longer monitoring with continuous electroencephalography to detect and treat early PTS and corresponding status epilepticus risk.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/neur.2023.0110anti-seizure medicineearly seizuresepilepsylevetiracetam, seizure prophylaxisphenytoinseizures
spellingShingle Matthew Pease
Jonathan Elmer
Arka N. Mallela
Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez
David O. Okonkwo
Flora Hammond
Sergiu Abramovici
James F. Castellano
Wesley T. Kerr
Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
Neurotrauma Reports
anti-seizure medicine
early seizures
epilepsy
levetiracetam, seizure prophylaxis
phenytoin
seizures
title Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
title_full Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
title_fullStr Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
title_full_unstemmed Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
title_short Early Post-Traumatic Seizures After Severe Traumatic Brain Injury
title_sort early post traumatic seizures after severe traumatic brain injury
topic anti-seizure medicine
early seizures
epilepsy
levetiracetam, seizure prophylaxis
phenytoin
seizures
url https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/neur.2023.0110
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