Abstract
Background
To assess the incidence of seizures in acute ischemic stroke patients treated with chemical (tPA) thrombolysis.
Methods
Retrospective study including all thrombolysis patients treated in Calgary between January 1, 2001, and October 31, 2006. Descriptive statistics and age/sex-adjusted P values were calculated.
Results
Of 400 eligible patients (median age 74.0 years, range: 24–77), 16 (4%) developed post-stroke seizures: 10 (62.5%) within one week (early) and 6 (37.5%) after 1 week but within the hospital stay (late). Single-vessel anterior circulation involvement (93.8% vs. 87%, P = 0.34) and hemorrhage (37.5% vs. 20%, P = 0.15) were more common in those with compared to without seizures but did not reach statistical significance. Atrial fibrillation was more common in those with (56.3%) than without (36.1%) seizures (P = 0.04). Death during admission was more likely (P = 0.03) in those who sustained seizures (37.5%) compared to those without seizures (17.6%).
Conclusions
In this cohort of tPA-treated patients, post-stroke seizures were associated with atrial fibrillation and early mortality.
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Acknowledgements
N. Jetté holds research salary awards from Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AI-HS) and from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This study was in part funded by AI-HS and by the Beulah Dora Olsen Research Endowment fund from Alberta Health Services to N. Jetté. M. Hill holds a research salary award from AI-HS and holds the Heart & Stroke Alberta Professorship in Stroke Research.
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Couillard, P., Almekhlafi, M.A., Irvine, A. et al. Subacute Seizure Incidence in Thrombolysis-treated Ischemic Stroke Patients. Neurocrit Care 16, 241–245 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-011-9657-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-011-9657-x