Profile of vascular epilepsy in the Neurology Department of Conakry University Hospital
Introduction:Vascular epilepsy (VE) is a frequent complication of stroke. The clinical presentation of VE is polymorphous, its treatment is not codified and its evolution is variable.
Our aim was to report the epidemiological, electro-clinical, therapeutic and evolutionary characteristics in the Neurology Department of Conakry University Hospital.
Material and methods: This was a prospective descriptive study, lasting one (1) year, from 01/01/2022 au 31/12/2022 carried out in the Neurology Department of Conakry University Hospital. Patients admitted for at least one unprovoked epileptic seizure after a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) within a period of more than one week were included in our study. All patients with history of epilepsy or head trauma were excluded.
Results: We recorded an incidence of 6.3%. The mean age was 58.2 ± 10.4 years, with a sex ratio of 1.31. The mean time to onset of VE was 33.42 ± 18.2 weeks, the inaugural mode of VE was serial seizures in 64.8%, and focal clonic seizures presented 40.5% of clinical manifestations. EEG abnormalities were lateralized (54.8%), focal (32.2%) and generalized (12.9%). These EEG abnormalities were mainly slow waves and spikes (70.2% and 29.7% respectively). The long-term antiepileptics used in this study were sodium valproate (54%), followed by lamictal (37.8%) and lamotrigine (8.1%). CE regression was observed in 78.3% of patients, although 21.6% progressed to MEE.
Conclusion: EV is frequent in men and young subjects in our context, and presents a good evolution.
Keywords: vascular epilepsy, epidemiology, Conakry
