Electroencephalogram findings in 10 patients with post-stroke epilepsy: A retrospective study

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Post-stroke epilepsy is a common and easily overlooked complication of acute cerebrovascular disease. Long-term seizures can seriously affect the prognosis and quality of life of patients. Electroencephalogram (EEG) is the simplest way to diagnose epilepsy, and plays an important role in predicting seizures and guiding medication.

AIM

To explore the EEG characteristics of patients with post-stroke epilepsy and improve the detection rate of inter-seizure epileptiform discharges.

METHODS

From January 2017 to June 2020, 10 patients with post-stroke epilepsy in our hospital were included. The clinical, imaging, and EEG characteristics were collected. The stroke location, seizure type, and ictal and interictal EEG manifestations of the patients with post-stroke epilepsy were then retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

In all 10 patients, epileptiform waves occurred in the side opposite to the stroke lesion during the interictal stage; these manifested as sharp wave, sharp-wave complex, or spike discharges in the anterior head lead of the side opposite to the lesion.

CONCLUSION

In EEG, epileptiform waves can occur in the side opposite to the stroke lesion in patients with post-stroke epilepsy.

Keywords: Post-stroke epilepsy; Electroencephalogram; Seizure; Stroke; Slow wave

Core Tip: Post-stroke epilepsy refers to epileptic seizures occurring after stroke in patients without a history of epilepsy or any brain or systemic disease causes. Post-stroke epilepsy can occur any time after stroke. The most common type of post-stroke epilepsy is focal or tonic-clonic seizures, which then progress to bilateral clonic seizures. The present study retrospectively analyzed the electroencephalogram characteristics of 10 patients with post-stroke epilepsy; these mainly manifested as epilepsy-like waves on the side opposite to the stroke lesion during the intervals between seizures.