The long-term risk of epilepsy after transient global amnesia: A population-based cohort study.

OBJECTIVE

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is characterized by sudden onset of larger anterograde and milder retrograde amnesia lasting up to 24 h. We aimed to investigate the long-term risk of epilepsy up to 8 years in subjects after TGA in the population-based cohort study.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

We conducted a control cohort study with an 8-year follow-up period. All data was collected retrospectively. From all potential participants more than 18 years of age without epilepsy and TGA history, we identified TGA subjects and non-TGA controls with age, gender and comorbidities matched in a 1:3 ratio. The yearly incidence of epilepsy was compared in TGA and non-TGA cohorts. The cumulative hazard ratio of epilepsy was estimated. The risk factors of epilepsy after TGA were investigated.

RESULTS

A total of 185 TGA subjects and 555 non-TGA controls were included in the study. There were 7 epilepsy cases in the 185 TGA cohorts during the follow-up period with yearly incidence rates of 9.629 per 1000 person. The adjusted hazard ratio for epilepsy in TGA cohorts was 6.50 (95 % confidence interval 1.87-22.68, p = 0.003) compared with non-TGA cohorts after adjusting for age, gender and comorbidities. No notable factor was significantly associated with epilepsy after TGA.

CONCLUSION

Our study highlighted TGA is associated with increased long-term risk of epilepsy.