STROKE AND EPILEPSY - CRITICAL-REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .1. EPIDEMIOLOGY AND RISK-FACTORS

Stroke-associated seizures and epilepsy provide an excellent clinical model to study both acute hyperexcitability after stroke and long-term tissue changes responsible for epileptogenic scar formation. The auth ors critically review the literature regarding stroke and seizures, to define the clinical spectrum of the association between stroke and se izures. Unfortunately, most of the studies performed in the past were either retrospective and heterogeneous or not designed to address this important issue. Constant improvements and advances in technology, in cluding computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, cerebral angiography and ultrasound, have made possible increasing sophisticati on in our investigation of patients with stroke and stroke-related sei zures and emphasize the need for reassessment of this relationship, Pa rt I gives an overview of the incidence of stroke-associated seizures, their phenomenology and dynamics, and attempts to identify specific r isk factors for this association such as stroke subtypes starting with hemorrhagic conditions.