Poststroke epilepsy in long-term survivors of primary intracerebral hemorrhage

Objective: To identify the incidence and predisposing factors for development of poststroke epilepsy (PSE) after primary intracerebral hemorrhage (PICH) during a long-term follow-up.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study of patients who had had their first-ever PICH between January 1993 and January 2008 in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, and who survived for at least 3 months. These patients were followed up for PSE. The associations between PSE occurrence and sex, age, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score on admission, hematoma location and volume, early seizures, and other possible risk factors for PSE were assessed using the Cox proportional hazards regression model.

Results: Of the 615 PICH patients who survived for longer than 3 months, 83 (13.5%) developed PSE. The risk of new-onset PSE was highest during the first year after PICH with cumulative incidence of 6.8%. In univariable analysis, the risk factors for PSE were early seizures, subcortical hematoma location, larger hematoma volume, hematoma evacuation, and a lower GCS score on admission, whereas patients with infratentorial hematoma location or hypertension were less likely to develop PSE (all variables p < 0.05). In multivariable analysis, we found subcortical location (hazard ratio [HR] 2.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.35–3.81, p < 0.01) and early seizures (HR 3.63, 95% CI 1.99–6.64, p < 0.01) to be independent risk factors, but patients with hypertension had a lower risk of PSE (HR 0.54, 0.35–0.84, p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Subcortical hematoma location and early seizures increased the risk of PSE after PICH in long-term survivors, while hypertension seemed to reduce the risk.