Time interval between traumatic brain injury and Post Traumatic Epilepsy

Introduction. The estimated time interval in which an individual can develop Post Traumatic Epilepsy (PTE) after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not clear. Objective. To assess the possible influence of the clinical features in the time interval between TBI and PTE development. Method. We analyzed retrospectively 400 medical records from a tertiary Brazilian hospital. We selected and reevaluated 50 patients and data was confronted with the time between TBI and PTE development by a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. A Cox-hazard regression was also conducted to define the characteristics that could be involved in the latent period of the PTE development. Results. Patients developed PTE especially in the first year (56%). We found a tendency of a faster development of PTE in patients older than 24 years (P<0.0001) and in men (P=0.03). Complex partial seizures evolving to generalized seizures were predominant in patients after moderate (37.7%) and severe (48.8%) TBIs, and simple partial seizures evolving to generalized seizures in mild TBIs (45.5%). Conclusions. Our data suggest that the first year after a TBI is the most critical period for PTE development and those males older than 24 years could have a faster development of PTE.