Predictors and outcome of seizures after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. Clinical article.

Object: Seizures are an important neurological complication of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). A better understanding of the risk factors of seizures following ICH is needed to predict which patients will require treatment.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-three adult patients were enrolled in this 1-year retrospective study. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between baseline clinical factors and the presence or absence of seizure during the study period.

Results: Seizures occurred in 20 patients with ICH, including acute symptomatic seizures in 9 and unprovoked seizures in 11. None progressed to status epilepticus during hospitalization. After a minimum 3-year follow-up period, the mean Glasgow Outcome Scale score was 3.8+/-1.1 for patients who had had seizures and 3.5+/-1.3 for those who had not. The multiple logistic regression model demonstrated that the mean ICH volume was independently associated with seizures, and any increase of 1 mm3 in ICH volume increased the seizure rate by 2.7%.

Conclusions: Higher mean ICH volumes at presentation were predictive of seizure, and the presence of late seizures was predictive of developing epilepsy. Most seizures occurred within 2 years of spontaneous ICH over a minimum of 3 years of follow-up.