Posttraumatic epilepsy: Pathophysiology, clinical characteristics and disease within lifespan.

PURPOSE: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical characteristics, established clinical- and experimental treatment options are discussed with regard to the lifespan. Attention is dedicated to special features of older patients.

METHOD: This narrative review was conducted in line with a structured literature search performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE database to identify relevant publications on post-traumatic epilepsy. Search terms included Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and free-text keywords related to traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic seizures, epileptogenesis, epidemiology, and treatment. No restrictions on publication date were applied in order to include both seminal and contemporary studies. The literature was narratively synthesized to provide a concise and clinically relevant overview of post-traumatic epilepsy.

RESULTS

Posttraumatic epilepsies of adults are frequently occurring in older patients. Little available data concerning age characteristics like TBI etiologies and PTE considerations by age groups with related management approaches exists. This review provides a condensed overview shedding also light on biological and clinical interlinks. TBI requires individual risk assessment for posttraumatic epilepsy and other neurological and psychiatric sequelae in the long-term course contributing to a "traumatic brain injury disease syndrome". Innovative approaches regarding diagnostics and approaches for interventions are discussed.