[An epileptic syndrome in patients with the sequelae of gunshot craniocerebral wounds].

To study the specific features of the epileptic syndrome after present-day gunshot cranial wounds (GCW), as well as risk factors of its occurrence, 56 victims were examined prospectively (within at least a year after their admission). The epileptic syndrome developed in 18 (32.1%) patients within 1 to 15 months following GCW; there were prevalent generalized convulsive (in 13 of the 18 patients) and focal (in 12 of the 18 ones) seizures. One type of seizures was noted in 7 patients, two or three ones were in 11. The polymorphism of seizures and a disparity of their psychopathological structure to the side of brain lesion were typical for left-handers. As compared to other patients, epileptics were more commonly found to have: 1) frontoparietal lesion; 2) multiple bony defects of the vault of the skull; 3) enlargement of the lateral ventricle of the brain on CT scans; 4) primary coma for > 2 hours and other depressed consciousness syndromes for > 1 day; 5) signs of left-handedness. The findings suggest that there is a need for studies of the functional asymmetry of the brain to gain a better insight into the problem.