The Clinical Features and Treatments of New-onset Geriatric Epilepsy at the Core Hospital in the Northern Part of Hokkaido

Abstract

In the northern part of Hokkaido, our hospital belongs to the semi-training facility for the Japanese epilepsy society conducted by a certificated epileptologist with the neurological board. We retrospectively investigated the clinical features and treatments of new-onset geriatric epilepsy over 65 years old in our hospital from April 2011 to March 2018. We divided the periods at the March 2015 when we were able to use the new generation antiepileptic drugs. Forty four patients, the former 16 and the latter 28, were included, their average onset age was 77.0 years old. The chief complaints were generalized convulsion (45.4%), consciousness disturbance (27.3%), and forgetfulness (22.3%). All the patients were focal epilepsy, including temporal lobe epilepsy (36.4%). The main underlying diseases consisted of the stroke (38.6%) and dementia (25.0%), and both exist more in the latter period. Seizure freedom ratio was 81.4%, 60% in the former period and 85% in the latter period by single antiepileptic drug. Stroke and dementia were seen in the new onset geriatric epilepsy much more in the latter period in our hospital, and seizure freedom ratio by single antiepileptic drug was also higher in this period. It suggests that we can control the epileptic seizures even caused by stroke and dementia with new generation antiepileptic drugs.