8. The impact of comorbidity on seizure severity in elderly patients

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the effect of the presence of comorbidities on the severity of seizures among elderly patients in Saudi Arabia KFSH&RC. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who are 60 years old and above at KFSH&RC, in Riyadh, KSA between 1990 and 2014 with epilepsy and systemic illness (diabetes, hypertensive, metabolic disease and CVD). Results 78 epilepsy patients were studied where in 22.4% (17) patients of our population have mild form of epilepsy and 13.1% (10) patients have a moderate severity of epilepsy, while half of them 51% (39) classified as severe epilepsy, this ratio probably due to selection bias. There was a significant correlation found between the severity of seizures and a presence of comorbidities in the majority of our population. Those with severe epilepsy, around 88% (33), complained of comorbid diseases, and 66% (24) suffer from vascular comorbidities. Conclusion There was significant influence of comorbidities on severity of epilepsy and epilepsy control in the elderly. This indicates a positive correlation between vascular comorbidities and severity of epilepsy, which indicate the importance of controlling risk factors (HTN, dyslipidemia, DM, CVD). This may have a significant role in reducing the severity of epilepsy in our population.