A Prospective Observational Study on Incidence, Implications and Management of Seizures Following Stroke

Background: Seizures following a stroke often indicate a more severe incident, typically resulting in extended hospital stays and a heightened risk of long-term disability. Management strategies generally include the use of anti-epileptic drugs to mitigate the frequency and severity of seizures.

Objectives: this study aims to evaluate the incidence and risk factors assosciated for seizures after stroke, differentiating between acute symptomatic seizures and late seizures. Additionally, it assess dependency levels of patients after stroke and management of seizures after stroke.

Methodology: We conducted prospective observational study for 6 months which includes patients who were diagnosed with cerebrovascular accident, past history of cerebrovascular accident, experienced single or recurrent seizures of different types.

Results: Out of 150 patients observed, 67 experienced seizures following stroke. Majority of these patients were male (99) predominantly aged between 50-75. Hypertension was found to be the major risk factor affecting 106(75.2%) individuals.Ischemic stroke were common. In terms of seizure occurrence, 27 patients experienced acute symptomatic seizure and 40 late onset seizure. Activity of daily living was assessed using Barthel Index Scale in which total dependency showed statistically significant relevance (P =0.01).

Conclusion: In summary, the leading cause of seizure in adults is stroke. While both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke may increase the risk of seizure, our study reveals that occurrence of seizure is greater following ischemic compared to hemorrhagic. A clinical pharmacist plays a vital role in determining prophylactic AED treatment for stroke patients and monitor to improve patient’s quality of life.